Nevada homeowners and renters feel abandoned. Skyrocketing rent prices have made housing out of reach for so many families. Meanwhile, our rental assistance programs are not getting to them in time before they’re evicted. While our legislators are trying to allocate funding to alleviate this crisis, it’s clear that families are not receiving the support they need. Predatory corporate landlords are only capitalizing on their suffering. 

In Las Vegas, it’s easy to see that real estate development is booming. However, it's not the kind that any middle-class resident can take advantage of. Luxury apartments, hotels and a Formula One grand prix circuit have taken precedence over affordable, green housing solutions for our rapidly growing homeless and rent-burdened residents. Few of the new properties being built accept the affordable housing vouchers that have been available to those who need them. 

As a housing justice organizer for Make the Road Nevada, I’ve not only seen firsthand how this is affecting our members, the majority of whom are Latino, but our community as a whole. We’re trying to fight for our neighbors, but we’re overwhelmed. 

We can’t take on this crisis alone. We’re fighting for state-level legislation to allow tenant protections and strengthen eviction moratoriums until our communities are able to secure rental assistance, working alongside legislators who want to help us get available rental assistance funding to tenants. 

A national, concerted investment in green, affordable housing is also important. This is why organizations such as Make the Road Nevada are joining a national coalition led by The Center for Popular Democracy, that is calling on President Joe Biden and Congress to stop the regressive budget cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, provide $1 trillion of federal funding to create more affordable housing in the next 10 years and enact a Green New Deal for public housing to provide $180 billion over 10 years to repair, modernize and green our current housing stock.

Through these measures, we would be able to secure tenant-owned, permanently affordable housing, while responding to the global climate crisis that is already affecting Nevada communities. Ultimately, unless we make this investment, every other solution is only placing patches on a broken system. 

While we work to pursue long-term legislative change, we’re finding strength in the community. This summer, our members hosted fundraisers to keep families from sinking. Vendors came together to sell everything from jewelry to baked goods to protect their neighbors from eviction. Our members are motivated to support each other as much as we endeavor to support them through workshops for rental assistance and partnering with legal aid and nonprofits for eviction defense. Through this collective effort, both in the fight for federal and state-level action from our leaders and through immediate, mutual aid, we’re finding strength within our community. 

We refuse to give up because we know the power of Nevada communities. We have proven that we can unite to keep each other afloat, engage in political advocacy, and organize for green social housing to achieve the future we want for ourselves, our families and our neighbors. 

Andy Romero is a housing justice organizer for Make the Road Nevada.

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