In partnership with the Multi-Faith ACTION Coalition, and the City of Antioch we were pleased to celebrate our community organizing and policy efforts with the Antioch community. The Antioch Affordable Housing Month celebration marks our first year of mobilizing the Antioch community around the Partnership for the Bay’s Future Breakthrough Grant. Our community engagement demonstrates the intentionality of our efforts to elevate Antioch community members, especially residents directly impacted by housing insecurity and homelessness, to be part of the decision-making process and housing development planning.
On May 24th, we came together to share, learn, and support the urgency that all our neighbors have access to affordable, stable, and safe places to call home. We hope you enjoyed hearing our reflections and findings from our first year of work. Our event was not just an opportunity to continue building awareness, it was also an opportunity to assert our community impact and validate the need for more affordable housing. One more reason to celebrate is the incredible attendance of our community– more than 60 people (Antioch community residents, local faith leaders, community advocates, community-based organizations, local elected officials, county representatives, and City staff) attended the celebration.
We believe that the diversity of attendees is a direct result of holding inclusive engagement spaces that represent our collective desire to make positive change. The involvement of diverse Antioch faith leaders to uplift the work and action needed to bring faith institutions together in the housing justice movement reminds us about our collective moral responsibility to care for each other.
Seeing and hearing our attendees’ smiles and hopes for the collective possibilities to build cottage communities on faith-owned land reminds us that we are on the right path. The turnout of our event is a triumph, which motivates us to continue advocating so that all members of our City of Antioch can have access to a stable, safe, and affordable home.
Our celebration inspired us to continue uplifting our community voices and advocating for more affordable permanent housing with supportive services.