History and Accomplishments
The Community Alliance of Tenants
Formed in 1996, CAT is a grassroots, tenant-controlled, tenant-membership organization. CAT’s mission is to educate and empower tenants to demand affordable, stable and safe rental homes. We organize, educate and develop leadership among low-income tenants and tenants of color to directly influence housing policies and practices and to represent Oregon’s growing tenant population. Together we demand to be treated with respect, that our concerns be addressed and that our solutions be enacted.
CAT has a vision of social justice where everyone’s basic needs are met and all people are treated with compassion and justice regardless of race, income, sex, gender identity, ability, sexual orientation and immigration status. We believe that everyone deserves to have a direct say in the decisions that impact our lives and that the people affected by problems should direct their solutions. Through leadership development and community organizing we seek to build the power of low-income tenants and tenants of color to win improvements in housing conditions and direct the future of our communities.
CAT strives to model our social justice vision, and we see ourselves as part of broad movement for systematic change. Political education is an integral part of our leadership development and is incorporated in all our membership meetings, trainings and actions as we continually struggle to deepen our analyses and build a strong framework for understanding power and the issues we address.
Why?
Oregon is currently facing a staggering housing crisis. In the Portland Metro area alone, we need at least 90,000 more homes that are affordable to very low-income households. Every night thousands of people, including families with children, are left to sleep on the streets. Every day people make unthinkable choices between housing, food and healthcare. The situation is only going to get worse as human services are cut, jobs are lost and housing costs continue to rise.
Because We Care About Kids and Education
Low-income children in the Portland Metro Area have to move a lot. Families often can’t afford rent increases and have to move to smaller or more poorly maintained homes. Schools report that as many as 25-30% of their students move out of their school area during the year. Children forced to change schools frequently have little opportunity for academic success, and the classroom instability caused by constantly shifting enrollment makes learning more difficult for all kids.
Because We Care About Families and Hunger
Oregon is among the hungriest states in the country, with hunger rates nearly double the national average. Families go hungry because we cannot stretch our income to cover all our necessary expenses. Rent is a huge portion of a low-income family’s budget – often 50%-75% of our income. The Oregon Food Bank reports that 50% of households that receive emergency food boxes spend over 48% of their income on housing. 25% of the households spend 76% of their income on housing.
Because we care about Community Livability and the Environment
When workers or students cannot afford housing in the communities in which we work or go to school, our commute time increases, reducing time for families and civic activities; traffic congestion increases, creating more pollution and longer commute time for everybody; and household budgets are further stretched to pay for additional transportation costs.
Because we care about Community Stability
The lack of affordable housing leaves many families living on the edge, constantly scrambling throughout the region in search of elusive affordable housing. When rising housing costs force low-income families, the disabled, seniors and long time community residents out of our neighborhoods, often we have to move to places with fewer community services, less public transportation service, less local employment opportunities and poorer housing. People who are displaced lose contact with long-time neighbors or fellow community members who may assist with shopping, home maintenance, and trips to the doctor.
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