ROC - C3

The Freedom ROC wrapped up the year with seven functioning tenant unions in low-income subsidized housing in Akron. The attention we brought to the unsanitary, third-world country conditions that human beings are living in was met with shock and frustration by residents of Akron. We built momentum in the city around housing by forming a coalition with Fair Housing, Legal Aid, Serve The People Akron, and Democratic Socialist of America-Akron’s Chapter that allowed us to host an “Eviction Summit” in April, bringing over 300 people together to discuss solutions to the housing crisis in Akron. They also heard from Matt Desmond, author of “Evicted” which highlights the unjust and inhumane conditions that people are forced to live in and upon complaining about how evictions have ruined their lives. This allowed us to force the city council to put together a housing task force that works directly with our coalition to fix the housing issues in Akron. We used this momentum to put together a week of action where we took over lobbies of distraught apartment complexes and forced management to allow tenants to organize on the property and stopped 13 evictions. We started a fellowship with three directly impacted leaders who were volunteering on our housing work. These fellows are currently planning a tour of all the complexes in Akron with HUD officials, including Marcia Fudge, Sherrod Brown (Chairman of the Federal Housing Committee), and Emilia Sykes (Akron’s newly elected Congresswoman). This will allow us to advocate for new builds, more money for vouchers, and common sense legislation that allows people to live out their constitutional rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. 

CHALLENGES

The challenges we had were around mental health and space. In a community already traumatized by its housing ills, education woes, and the violence that is present in our community and schools, the shooting of an unarmed Black man was ultimately the straw that broke the camel's back. People poured into our office looking for answers for their trauma but this shooting added extra trauma and hopelessness to their lives. We regularly had 150+ people in our office daily from July to October. We lacked the space to facilitate what we needed to and although we had a permanent “Wellness Wednesday” starting in August to October, we failed to achieve the capacity we needed to truly help people, which ultimately led to more harm being done. 

Another challenge is our administration's failure to act in a human manner when these tragedies happen in our community. The increased police response around our office, constant curfew, and arrest of nonviolent protests was also a challenge.

Evaluations and Lessons Learned

We learned that people are ready to activate. People want to be engaged year-round to hopefully prevent these tragedies from happening. They want more community involvement in policy decisions, school decisions, and community development. We also learned and demonstrated that there is a place for everyone in the movement and that collaboration is the only way for us to win for everyday people. We formed so many unlikely partnerships and collaborations that even shocked those in the community. We were often asked, “You work with them?” which led us to show the community that we are stronger together. No matter what tactics we use, they all are needed.