Housing Justice
Action St. Louis organizes to build political power for Black people. We focus on the City of St. Louis, where generations of disinvestment in Black neighborhoods has resulted in poverty, community violence, housing instability, and disengagement from politics. Action St. Louis’ housing work is the direct result of years of organizing with impacted people whose lives are devastated by the local criminal legal system. Housing is cited as the number one priority for newly released folks in our membership and their families. Thus our housing work is a critical component of our base-building and organizing.
St. Louis is a city facing an affordable housing crisis. Once thriving Black neighborhoods are now dealing with vacant properties and lots which the City does not maintain, and out-of-town landlords build wealth by exploiting their tenants. Black residents are priced out of new developments which are often financed through tax breaks and sweetheart deals with politicians who do not prioritize Black lives. Fifty percent of the City’s residents are long-term renters. Because of rising rents, over policing and incarceration, community violence, disinvestment and neglect, and closing and underfunded neighborhood schools, many Black residents feel unmoored and disconnected from the City they’ve always known as home.
We are building a housing justice and tenants’ rights movement to transform the lives of people who call St. Louis home, including Black residents whose families have been here for generations and who are now raising their own children here.
Our demands
Support the building of tenant organizing and education across the St. Louis area.
Create a strong framework and support the passage of a Tenant Bill of Rights in The City of St. Louis
Community-focused policy around tenants’ rights addressing the issues of predatory landlords, deteriorating living conditions, and eviction prevention.