COMMUNITY ALLIANCE OF TENANTS
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Mission Statement
Formed in 1996, the Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) is Oregon’s only statewide, grassroots, tenant-controlled, tenant-rights organization. CAT educates, organizes and develops the leadership of low-income tenants.
About This Cause
The mission of the Community Alliance of Tenants is to educate and empower tenants to demand safe, stable and affordable rental homes. We believe that housing is the basis of a strong community so we bring tenants together to organize and collectively advocate for fair and equal protections in housing practices and policies. CAT's work centers on Tenant Education, Tenant Advocacy and building Tenant Power. TENANT POWER CAT builds Tenant Power through education, advocacy, building-based organizing, leadership development and membership engagement. As the housing market continues to tighten, the relevance of stable housing has become important to most people. This is a critical time for us to engage new and diverse voices in the housing justice movement. CAT’s membership is the heart and soul of our work. Our members set direction and priorities for our organization, and elect our all-tenant Board of Directors at our annual membership meeting. Through leadership development and community organizing we seek to build the power of low-income tenants to win improvements in housing conditions and direct the future of our communities. Leadership Development CAT helps build and empower tenant leaders across all of our programs and campaigns. We train volunteers to become Renters’ Rights Hotline specialists and community organizers through our Safe Housing Project. We organize and facilitate in-housing trainings, covering a broad range of topics and skills. Trainings include: public speaking, popular education, dismantling structural racism and oppression, meeting facilitation, and grassroots fundraising. Our board of directors is comprised of 100% tenants, and reflects the diversity and values of our membership base. Our Board of Directors oversees the organization’s direction, while ensuring we are financially sustainable and accountable to all Oregon tenants. Board members receive ongoing leadership training, set annual individual and Board work plans, and participate in or lead all of our grassroots fundraising efforts. Membership Engagement All of our tenant-led campaigns are designed and executed by our members and tenant leaders. Members help organize rallies and other direct actions, such as public testimonies and forums. We firmly believe that personal storytelling is the most effective and powerful way to build community and bring about systemic change. At each of our member meetings, trainings, and actions, we provide opportunities for tenants to share their stories to one another, elected officials, and our community. We also conduct focus groups and surveys to gather information from members about what kinds of challenges they face in their housing and what works best to help them overcome these challenges. To set policy priorities and direction for the organization, we facilitate dot-voting and consensus building exercises. TENANT ADVOCACY Renters in Oregon face a devastating affordable housing shortage: One in four Oregonians pay more than half of their income for rent. Over 20,000 students in Oregon’s K-12 schools are homeless. A minimum wage worker in Oregon had to work 72 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom apartment. There continues to be a severe shortage of affordable housing units for low-income renters. In Multnomah County, the shortage is over 25,0000, and in Oregon, it is over 100,000. Despite the magnitude of the housing crisis in Oregon, we can and must create safe, stable, affordable housing for everyone. Renters in Oregon should be able to afford housing and still have enough money left for groceries and other basic necessities. Children deserve the opportunity to succeed in school and life, which is tied to having a stable home. Housing gives people the opportunity to build better lives. To succeed you need a place to call home. It’s only fair that everyone has a safe and decent place to live. At CAT we are active in collaborative, local and statewide campaigns to secure more resource for affordable housing. At the local and regional level, we work with a variety of housing advocates and service providers to ensure that tenants have safe, stable and affordable homes. At the local and regional level, we work with a variety of housing advocates and service providers to ensure that tenants have safe, stable and affordable homes. CAT advocates for rental housing maintenance codes for cities and counties, and ensures that those same programs are held accountable and properly funded. Tenants needing important repairs rely on a strong housing code and enforcement, or inspections, to ensure that landlords are responsible under the law. CAT works with local housing groups, through the campaigns such as “Affordable Housing Now!” or “We Are the Safety Net” to seek new and stable funding streams for the Portland region. At the state level, CAT works to win better protections for tenants in two ways: CAT participates in Landlord/Tenant negotiations that take place each legislative session to address changes to the State’s landlord/tenant act, and CAT supports legislative proposals to protect tenants through our work in the statewide Housing Alliance. TENANT EDUCATION In order to work towards our mission of safe, stable and affordable rental homes, tenants need a place to call home. So CAT works to provide tenants with the basic information and strategies we need to know what our rights are and how to protect them. With this knowledge, we stand a better chance of maintaining our housing and being able to focus on building more protections for tenants under the law. Our Education Program is run almost entirely by our membership – tenants helping tenants. So we are able to provide something that no other group in Oregon can – concrete information about landlord-tenant law in everyday language, that real renters can understand. We also work with folks one-on-one to come up with a strategy that fits their particular situation. Because many of us have been through similar situations, we understand what people who use the hotline are going through.