Friend —

I was born and raised in Washington DC. But like a lot of Black and Brown people, my daughter and I can no longer afford to live in the city we used to call home.

My community taught me that it’s our job to take care of one another. I came from a place where not many people made it out of their environments , but my community made it possible for me to graduate from high school and then college with honors. The love my community gave me meant a lot, and ever since then I knew it was my job to give back.

Share your DC Jobs with Justice story

As an organizer with DC JWJ’s Reclaim Rent Control campaign, I’m part of the effort to strengthen and expand rent control laws in DC. Tenants from all over DC are part of this effort to fix our broken law and create new protections to make housing more affordable.

DC Jobs with Justice has now been in this fight for 20 years. That means people trust us and know we’ll go the extra mile. It also means we don’t just ask things of the communities we serve, we also support one another. If one member of our coalition is hungry, we care for them. That’s the DC JWJ way.

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The power of this work is in our results. In 2020 the DC Council held two hearings about rent control and we mobilized more than 150 people to voice their support. We didn’t win everything we wanted, but we made progress and won a two-year moratorium on “voluntary agreements,” a tactic landlords use to raise rents on future tenants.

In my work with DC JWJ, I see solidarity in action. No matter people’s background or language, so many people step up to help one another. Tenants don’t get paid to organize around rent control — they do it because we should protect one another, and that’s what this movement is all about.

This is my story of why I work with DC Jobs with Justice. In our 20th year, share your story, make a donation, or get your tickets to the I’ll Be There Awards. I’ll see you there.

Sincerely,