The purpose of organizing is to bring people together so that they will have more power. But there are many different levels on which people come together:
When you organize in your building, you are bringing people together at the most local level possible. This is the thread that keeps the fabric of the larger tenant and social justice movements together on the larger scale. But without being directly woven in with these movements, the tenant council is isolated from the bigger picture, which is where the larger, longer lasting changes take place.
There are many organizations that you could affiliate your tenant council with statewide, nationwide, or internationally to weave your organization’s thread into the fabric of the movement.
The Tenants Union is the organization that created this booklet. We are a statewide, membership-based organization that helps Washington State tenants to organize for their interests, and to sustain and connect existing tenant councils to the larger statewide movement. To affiliate your Tenant Council with the Tenants Union, which will entitle you to a number of benefits, your Tenant Council needs to meet three basic requirements.
Tenants Union
5425 Rainier Avenue S Ste B
Seattle, WA 98118
(206) 722-6848
www.tenantsunion.org
The National Alliance of HUD Tenants is a nation-wide organization of tenants who live in federally-assisted housing. Member tenant councils work together to preserve affordable housing, protect tenants rights, and promote tenant ownership and control – especially at the federal level. Voting membership in NAHT is open to tenant councils that meet regularly and are democratic, representative, and independent of management. Dues for tenant council membership are $25 yearly.
National Alliance of HUD Tenants
353 Columbus Ave.
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 267-9564
www.saveourhomes.org