I’ve been a renter for decades, and a renter in Bellingham for over 10 years. I’ve been a member and organizer with the Bellingham Tenants Union since it was begun in 2017. I’ve been active in our state’s legislative sessions specifically for housing justice since 2020, where we supported Whatcom and Skagit tenants and BTU members to testify and help pass evictions protections in 2021. I’ve also been a member of the TU since 2014. I was first ran and was elected to be part of the TU Board in 2022. Today I work with immigrants and farmworkers in Whatcom and Skagit counties through the organization Community to Community here in Bellingham. I’m also on the Bellingham Mayor’s Immigration Advisory Board. I believe in our collective power to create another housing and sheltering system that doesn’t treat homes as commodities and profit-makers. Instead homes should be treated as basic human needs, and people along with our animal and plant neighbors deserve to have our needs met with dignity. We can only change this if enough of us can work together cooperatively and collaboratively, with respect and dignity. I’m hoping to re-join the Board to make this possible so we can have a strong united tenants voice across our state, to build a system that effectively meets our needs for housing and shelter.
