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| Ora Prochovnick, JD, is a Professor at JFK University |
Showing posts with label Volunteers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Volunteers. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Member Spotlight: Ora in Concord
Ora Prochovnick, JD, is currently a Professor at John F Kennedy University. Over her law career, Ora has been frequently recognized for contributing expertise and legal assistance to the community in the area of housing advocacy, assistance to persons with AIDS, and LGBT rights. Recently she decided to support Tenants Together's work in Concord, Contra Costa County by hosting our monthly clinic at JFKU's community center in Concord and encouraging her students to volunteer as well as volunteering her time.
As a child growing up on the south side of Chicago, I experienced the impact of housing injustice when my family had to deal with the stress, turmoil and dislocation of frequent moves because of evictions, threats of eviction and condo conversions. Despite this we were always safely housed and I realize what a privilege this was. Sadly I came tor realize this was not a privilege enjoyed by all, despite the fact that housing is a basic human necessity. This realization is what in large part has led me to advocate for renters' rights. When a basic human service, such as shelter, is combined with the severe greed, profit motive and shortages which are especially rampant in the bay area market, it results in an essential unfairness which I believe must be addressed. I support Tenants Together because it is the only organization which is trying to address this problem at the statewide level, and because it does this through grassroots organizing work, which I believe is so essential to building a movement and creating lasting change. To me housing justice means: healthy, safe and affordable homes for all, located in a diverse community which is accessible to places of employment, shopping, services and open spaces.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Member spotlight: Zack in San Francisco
We're starting a new series profiling our members and how they got involved with Tenants Together and the fight for renters' rights. Members are active across the state, some volunteer in whatever way they can, others organize tenants in their own communities. Zack has been a volunteer on our Tenant Rights Hotline since 2014, counseling fellow tenants on their rights and how to assert them. Want to become a member? Join now.
I was moved into a Trinity Plaza in March of 2009, which was a dilapidated building that was going to be torn down within the next year. My apartment ended up having bedbugs, for which building management tried to say was my issue alone. Luckily, I contacted SF Health Services, who informed me of my rights. For moving into the old Trinity Plaza building, I was promised that I would move into a brand new apartment at Trinity Place in 2010, which would be rent controlled according to my Trinity Plaza apartment. I had lived in the Trinity Place apartment without a single negative incident, yet when I started to date someone that I cared about and had the person stay over, Trinity provided me with a Notice to Cure or Quit. Specifically, the lease that I had moved into Trinity Plaza with stated that I could not have a guest stay over for more than 10 days in a calendar year. When I mentioned to Trinity that this person was my significant other, a lawyer for Trinity said, "Trinity does not care if you are in a relationship, if you want to live with your significant other, you need to move out and find an apartment at the market value."
It was very obvious that Trinity was and is looking to push out people that are under rent control from their apartments. I tried to fight this, but the lawyers were relentless, and I did not see a way out. So, I provided Trinity Management with a notice that I was moving out. Upon moving out, Trinity Management inspected the apartment and stated that I owed them in excess of $400, in addition to my security deposit amount, to fix up the apartment, which included painting and cleaning. Initially, Trinity Management would not take into account normal wear and tear to the apartment. Further, I used a professional cleaning service to clean the apartment, including the appliances. After drafting several appeals to their gross misrepresentation of money owed, Trinity Management lowered the amount requested by 60%, which still meant that they kept my security deposit.
Because of the injustice I faced, I decided to volunteer with Tenants Together, as I wanted to be proactive in the fight for Tenants' Rights. Helping people find their voices and direction in their fight for Tenants' Rights gives me great joy, as I am able to help people stand up against slumlords, who are really just concerned with making as much in terms of profits as possible. Housing Justice is needed, as affordable housing is disappearing, especially in San Francisco. Soon, San Francisco will be a city for the wealthy and the poor, where the middle class people will not have a place to live in SF.
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| In 2014, Zack was happy to be our 2000th "Like" on Facebook! |
It was very obvious that Trinity was and is looking to push out people that are under rent control from their apartments. I tried to fight this, but the lawyers were relentless, and I did not see a way out. So, I provided Trinity Management with a notice that I was moving out. Upon moving out, Trinity Management inspected the apartment and stated that I owed them in excess of $400, in addition to my security deposit amount, to fix up the apartment, which included painting and cleaning. Initially, Trinity Management would not take into account normal wear and tear to the apartment. Further, I used a professional cleaning service to clean the apartment, including the appliances. After drafting several appeals to their gross misrepresentation of money owed, Trinity Management lowered the amount requested by 60%, which still meant that they kept my security deposit.
Because of the injustice I faced, I decided to volunteer with Tenants Together, as I wanted to be proactive in the fight for Tenants' Rights. Helping people find their voices and direction in their fight for Tenants' Rights gives me great joy, as I am able to help people stand up against slumlords, who are really just concerned with making as much in terms of profits as possible. Housing Justice is needed, as affordable housing is disappearing, especially in San Francisco. Soon, San Francisco will be a city for the wealthy and the poor, where the middle class people will not have a place to live in SF.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Meet Kelly, this summer's organizing intern, who quintupled tenant meeting attendance
Hello! My name is Kelly and I was this summer's Community Organizing Intern at Tenants Together. I came to California from the other side of the country, New York to be precise, and this summer I found myself with the honor of working at Tenants Together. Growing up, my upbringing took place in rural suburbia, surrounded by farms. It was not until my family took a train from Penn Station that I encountered a real city. I was fascinated by New York, there were so many people and things to look at, and I was happily overwhelmed. That is, until a man walked up to my mother and asked her to buy him some chicken. I don’t remember much else about the trip, whether she bought the chicken, what the train was like.
By the end of the day, I was still thinking about this interaction. I couldn’t believe that people struggled with things like having enough food to eat. From then on, I have continued to be shocked by the struggles that some people go through. I thought, well then, I’ll try to change it (I was rather optimistic). What better way to make a change than organizing. I didn’t know that such a thing existed when I started college, but I had decided that I wanted to be a community organizer.
It was a series of lucky coincidences. I have family who live in the Bay Area, and I did not think that my home town, which by all rights is nothing more than a post office, held the same opportunities that a fully formed city would in terms of my organizing goals. So, I began applying to every non-profit that I could find in the Bay area. I had a number of options on my plate, but Tenants Together jumped out at me from the beginning of my search because I worked with housing rights groups in the Bronx, where I go to college, for several years now.
When Tenants Together contacted me and I had a chance to talk to the Tenants Together team, I could not imagine working with anyone else. Having seen the struggles people experience in the Bronx, it seemed right to round out my education by seeing how the struggles varied across the country.
On my first day I was making phone calls, asking people to call their local representatives, and learning the ins and outs of NationBuilder (a platform used by Tenants Together to store and organize data). This turned out to be better than an extensive orientation, than spending lots of time training at the front end. Training as I worked, learning as I went along worked better for me, and more applicable to what I was doing. What I was learning were often life lessons, anything from Spanish pronunciation to driving with a slightly distracted director. More than anything else, easily the most important of my lessons were those I learned while out door knocking.
This summer has been full of wonderful experiences, memories I will cherish and continue to learn from as I grow, but my favorite of these was the day of “the big meeting”. I have taken to calling it this in my head, but in reality, it was simply Tenants Together July monthly meeting in Concord (East Contra Costa County). It happens every month, but for the month of July, I was tasked with outreach, calling and talking to people to increase turnout at the meeting. The goal was to double the turnout from the previous month’s meeting, which was 7 people. My boss Guillermo and I had been talking, calling, and door knocking, targeting certain areas for issues they had been experiencing.
On this particular day, July 22nd to be specific, we had gone out to Concord to remind people about the meeting and ask if they needed rides to get to the meeting. I was unofficially in charge of talking to the Algerian population, as with their small amount of English and my small amount of French, we could cobble together a language in which we could communicate relatively easily. Guillermo was talking to the Spanish speakers in the building, so I went to talk to Samia. She had just had a child, now about 5 days old. We had been talking for weeks, and now the baby had finally arrived. She invited me in, introduced me to the baby, and plied me with questions and cookies for the better part of 20 minutes. Another Algerian woman too would not take no for an answer when she invited me in to share cake with her and her husband. It seemed that everyone I spoke to that day invited me into their homes with smiles and friendship.
I realized I was building relationships with these people. We had jokes, asked about changes in each other’s lives, suggested solutions from our own experiences. I was of course a representative of Tenants Together, useful for housing rights questions, but I was also becoming a friend. From everything I have learned, and more importantly everything I have seen in my studies, it is the relationships between people that provide a support system. This is so important in creating power, and building up power in numbers is the real way that people can affect change. Following this logic then, relationships are power. I am no where near in a position to call myself an organizer, however that was the first time when I started to believe that I could be one. Now, so as not to leave you curious, I should mention that compared to the 7 people who had attended the previous month’s meeting, this meeting boasted a population of around 35 people, not counting the gaggle of very excited children running about in the hallway outside.
That day, July 22nd was a learning experience in so many ways. Things like successfully navigating a part of town I had never been in before to discovering how much having food and rides can affect turnout at a meeting were noted. Even how the distribution of pens can affect the atmosphere in a room. My whole summer has been full of such moments.
I need to thank all of the members of the Tenants Together team for their guidance and patience. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all of the other interns and volunteers, who made coming to work fun for me. Working in the office with Aimee and Aileen taught me not only how to deal with tenants rights issues, but also how to be a good teacher (learning by their example). Dean provided a sense of direction and goals that were attainable, and Leah reminded me the significance of details that I had often overlooked in favor of the bigger picture. And of course, my boss Guillermo, who not only guided me through the ins and outs of working as an organizer, but who went out of his way to teach the theory behind the actions we were taking. He insisted I take online courses through the New Organizing Institute, which seemed to parallel the work I was doing in Concord. More than that, he provided a positive, comfortable and fun environment to work in, putting a lot of emphasis on my education, because he believed in what I was learning.
I do not know if I will ever be able to thank Tenants Together enough for what they have done for me. They have shown me what it is to make change and opened my eyes to some serious issues in the world. Who knows, maybe this is my calling, maybe not, but I can say with absolute certainty that I have been changed by this experience. I like to believe for good.
By the end of the day, I was still thinking about this interaction. I couldn’t believe that people struggled with things like having enough food to eat. From then on, I have continued to be shocked by the struggles that some people go through. I thought, well then, I’ll try to change it (I was rather optimistic). What better way to make a change than organizing. I didn’t know that such a thing existed when I started college, but I had decided that I wanted to be a community organizer.
So how does a girl from rural upstate New York end up in the California Bay Area working with housing rights?
When Tenants Together contacted me and I had a chance to talk to the Tenants Together team, I could not imagine working with anyone else. Having seen the struggles people experience in the Bronx, it seemed right to round out my education by seeing how the struggles varied across the country.
Tenants Together put me to work right away.
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| TT interns practice the rap together before doorknocking. Kelly at left. |
On my first day I was making phone calls, asking people to call their local representatives, and learning the ins and outs of NationBuilder (a platform used by Tenants Together to store and organize data). This turned out to be better than an extensive orientation, than spending lots of time training at the front end. Training as I worked, learning as I went along worked better for me, and more applicable to what I was doing. What I was learning were often life lessons, anything from Spanish pronunciation to driving with a slightly distracted director. More than anything else, easily the most important of my lessons were those I learned while out door knocking.
This summer has been full of wonderful experiences, memories I will cherish and continue to learn from as I grow, but my favorite of these was the day of “the big meeting”. I have taken to calling it this in my head, but in reality, it was simply Tenants Together July monthly meeting in Concord (East Contra Costa County). It happens every month, but for the month of July, I was tasked with outreach, calling and talking to people to increase turnout at the meeting. The goal was to double the turnout from the previous month’s meeting, which was 7 people. My boss Guillermo and I had been talking, calling, and door knocking, targeting certain areas for issues they had been experiencing.
The day of the big meeting
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| One of the little residents of a Concord, CA apartment building with a severe bedbug infestation. |
I realized I was building relationships with these people. We had jokes, asked about changes in each other’s lives, suggested solutions from our own experiences. I was of course a representative of Tenants Together, useful for housing rights questions, but I was also becoming a friend. From everything I have learned, and more importantly everything I have seen in my studies, it is the relationships between people that provide a support system. This is so important in creating power, and building up power in numbers is the real way that people can affect change. Following this logic then, relationships are power. I am no where near in a position to call myself an organizer, however that was the first time when I started to believe that I could be one. Now, so as not to leave you curious, I should mention that compared to the 7 people who had attended the previous month’s meeting, this meeting boasted a population of around 35 people, not counting the gaggle of very excited children running about in the hallway outside.
That day, July 22nd was a learning experience in so many ways. Things like successfully navigating a part of town I had never been in before to discovering how much having food and rides can affect turnout at a meeting were noted. Even how the distribution of pens can affect the atmosphere in a room. My whole summer has been full of such moments.
A positive, comfortable and fun environment to work in, putting a lot of emphasis on my education
I do not know if I will ever be able to thank Tenants Together enough for what they have done for me. They have shown me what it is to make change and opened my eyes to some serious issues in the world. Who knows, maybe this is my calling, maybe not, but I can say with absolute certainty that I have been changed by this experience. I like to believe for good.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Meet Our Organizing Interns
Tenants Together's organizing work focuses on reaching out to tenants in areas across the state that have few protections for renters, holding tenant meetings to find and develop leaders, and providing assistance to a Tenant Action Group to advance renters rights in their area. As a statewide organization, we also work online to educate and create awareness of the importance of renters' rights to advance social and economic justice for Californians. As with much of our work, we wouldn't have as much of an impact without with support of volunteers and interns. This summer we had two special people join us to support our organizing work. Get to know them!
Where did you grow up?
Santa Maria, CA
What were the experiences of renters in your neighborhood?
Nothing like some of the stories I've heard since doing organizing.
Why did you decide to intern with Tenants Together?
I have an interest in economic justice and working to help others.
What’s next for you after your internship?
I'm continuing with school. I want to obtain a Master of Public Administration degree.
What's your dream job?
Executive Director of a non-profit.
What do you enjoy about working with fellow Tenants Together staff & volunteers?
The knowledge they provide, their positive attitudes, and that they are overall great people.
What's the craziest landlord story you've heard?
The one about a landlord sawing the boards under someone's home so it would become uninhabitable.
What's the least realistic onscreen portrayal of an internship you've ever seen?
Umm... (don't know).
What's one thing someone would never guess about you?
I love to cook and try new foods. Also, I'm really good at jumping on a pogo stick. :-)
Where did you grow up?
Panama City, Panama
What were the experiences of renters in your neighborhood?
Most people were actually homeowners, but I've been a renter in California since 2008, which has influenced the way I think about the tenant-landlord dynamic.
Why did you decide to intern with Tenants Together?
I'm really interested in what's going on with renters in California and the Bay Area, especially with the recent uptick in evictions and condo conversions. I also wanted to empower myself as a renter and apply some of the social media skills I've gained as a freelancer to a non-profit context.
What’s next for you after your internship?
I've been doing social media management through a startup called Social Sonar for the past couple of years, so I'll continue to do that. I'm also working on becoming a copy editor through a UC Berkeley Extension program. Besides that, I'm committing myself to my job search and exploring grad school programs.
What's your dream job?
Right now, I'd like to find a communications position with an arts or service organization. Something that combines writing, editing, some design and online community management would be awesome.
What do you enjoy about working with fellow Tenants Together staff & volunteers?
I really enjoy the collaborative way in which this office works; how everyone is so knowledgeable and willing to support each other.
What's the craziest landlord story you've heard?
The coverage about the so-called "Mayor of Fulton Street" was pretty crazy and hard to believe.
What's the least realistic onscreen portrayal of an internship you've ever seen?
The Devil Wears Prada. Only because working for Anna Wintour is probably a lot worse.
What's one thing someone would never guess about you?
I played a robot in a production of The Tempest.
Interested in joining our team as a volunteer or intern? Check out the opportunities here.
Mark Cummings (Organizing Intern)
Where did you grow up?
Santa Maria, CA
What were the experiences of renters in your neighborhood?
Nothing like some of the stories I've heard since doing organizing.
Why did you decide to intern with Tenants Together?
I have an interest in economic justice and working to help others.
What’s next for you after your internship?
I'm continuing with school. I want to obtain a Master of Public Administration degree.
What's your dream job?
Executive Director of a non-profit.
What do you enjoy about working with fellow Tenants Together staff & volunteers?
The knowledge they provide, their positive attitudes, and that they are overall great people.
What's the craziest landlord story you've heard?
The one about a landlord sawing the boards under someone's home so it would become uninhabitable.
What's the least realistic onscreen portrayal of an internship you've ever seen?
Umm... (don't know).
What's one thing someone would never guess about you?
I love to cook and try new foods. Also, I'm really good at jumping on a pogo stick. :-)
Maro Guevara (Online Organizing Intern)
Where did you grow up?
Panama City, Panama
What were the experiences of renters in your neighborhood?
Most people were actually homeowners, but I've been a renter in California since 2008, which has influenced the way I think about the tenant-landlord dynamic.
Why did you decide to intern with Tenants Together?
I'm really interested in what's going on with renters in California and the Bay Area, especially with the recent uptick in evictions and condo conversions. I also wanted to empower myself as a renter and apply some of the social media skills I've gained as a freelancer to a non-profit context.
What’s next for you after your internship?
I've been doing social media management through a startup called Social Sonar for the past couple of years, so I'll continue to do that. I'm also working on becoming a copy editor through a UC Berkeley Extension program. Besides that, I'm committing myself to my job search and exploring grad school programs.
What's your dream job?
Right now, I'd like to find a communications position with an arts or service organization. Something that combines writing, editing, some design and online community management would be awesome.
What do you enjoy about working with fellow Tenants Together staff & volunteers?
I really enjoy the collaborative way in which this office works; how everyone is so knowledgeable and willing to support each other.
What's the craziest landlord story you've heard?
The coverage about the so-called "Mayor of Fulton Street" was pretty crazy and hard to believe.
What's the least realistic onscreen portrayal of an internship you've ever seen?
The Devil Wears Prada. Only because working for Anna Wintour is probably a lot worse.
What's one thing someone would never guess about you?
I played a robot in a production of The Tempest.
Interested in joining our team as a volunteer or intern? Check out the opportunities here.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Meet our Summer Legal Interns
This summer Tenants Together was lucky to have three excellent Legal Interns who contributed to our efforts to hold slumlords in the Central Valley accountable, support the growth of our Tenant Lawyer Network, and research how Code Enforcement functions in major cities across the state. While furthering the goals of promoting safe and affordable housing for California's renters, our internship program focuses on mentoring and developing future public interest lawyers who will continue to fight for tenants long past their internship has ended. We are sad to see them go, but we know they will go on to do great things! Learn more about these future public interest law leaders:
Where did you grow up?
In the Seattle area.
What were the experiences of renters in your neighborhood?
Many renters were stigmatized for not being home owners.
Why did you decide to intern with Tenants Together?
Because tenants rights are IMPORTANT. One third of the country rents, and tenants are almost always unrepresented while landlords lawyer up.
What’s next for you after your internship?
One more year of school at University of San Francisco, working at the Child Advocacy Clinic and hopefully doing a fellowship at Tenants Together.
What's your dream job?
This is a group of fun, progressive-minded people who can tackle serious issues while making time to have a laugh.
What's the craziest landlord story you've heard?
Any time a landlord who has used Arkansas' Criminal Eviction Statute.
What's the least realistic onscreen portrayal of an internship you've ever seen?
I don't know that I have seen an onscreen portrayal of an internship.
What's one thing someone would never guess about you?
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in San Francisco and San Anselmo (in Marin County).
Why did you decide to intern with Tenants Together?
I was excited about the work Tenants Together is doing because I think housing affects people's everyday lives in such a big way. Defending tenants' rights can also make a huge difference in creating and maintaining diverse, vibrant communities where all kinds of people can afford to live. I'm a law student, I wanted to get some hands-on legal experience, and I wanted to get a taste for policy advocacy and organizing work, too.
What’s next for you after your internship?
I'm going back to law school at UC Berkeley for my second year. In the fall, I'll be working at the East Bay Community Law Center's Clean Slate Clinic, helping people clean up their criminal records so they have an easier time re-entering society.
What's your dream job?
Like most people, I'm still trying to figure it out, but my vision so far is to become a lawyer who helps people directly and fights for social justice. That, or a bicycle-riding mobile ice cream taste tester!
What do you enjoy about working with fellow Tenants Together staff & volunteers?
Everyone has been super-friendly and interested in getting to know us interns! I've especially enjoyed the scientific debates about stuff that we know absolutely nothing about.
What's the craziest landlord story you've heard?
There was a case we read in law school about a landlord in Louisiana who used one-way mirrors to spy on his tenants, a newly-married couple. Creepy!
What's the least realistic onscreen portrayal of an internship you've ever seen?
Hmmm... I don't think I watch enough TV.
What's one thing someone would never guess about you?
That I'm 29, married, and have a daughter (People are constantly telling me I look like I'm 17).
Where did you grow up?
Fullerton, California.
Why did you decide to intern with Tenants Together?
I would like to pursue public interest law, and after volunteering in an immigration advocacy non-profit, I wanted to expand my exposure to this legal field by getting involved in housing law.
What’s next for you after your internship?
Going to law school!
What's your dream job?
I’d like to be a public interest lawyer.
What do you enjoy about working with fellow Tenants Together staff & volunteers?
They are passionate not only about their jobs but also about their hobbies and interests, i.e. baking delicious homemade breads and scones.
What's the craziest landlord story you've heard?
The story of the landlords from hell who terrorized their tenants by--among many other atrocious acts-- sawing holes in the floor; cutting off gas, power, and electricity, and creating a false email account under the tenant's name to fire his lawyer.
What's the least realistic onscreen portrayal of an internship you've ever seen?
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in “The Internship”
What's one thing someone would never guess about you?
I don't know how to ride a bicycle.
Interested in applying to be a Tenants Together Legal Intern? Read more about our internships and how you can apply here.
Darren Orr
In the Seattle area.
What were the experiences of renters in your neighborhood?
Many renters were stigmatized for not being home owners.
Why did you decide to intern with Tenants Together?
Because tenants rights are IMPORTANT. One third of the country rents, and tenants are almost always unrepresented while landlords lawyer up.
What’s next for you after your internship?
One more year of school at University of San Francisco, working at the Child Advocacy Clinic and hopefully doing a fellowship at Tenants Together.
What's your dream job?
This is a group of fun, progressive-minded people who can tackle serious issues while making time to have a laugh.
What's the craziest landlord story you've heard?
Any time a landlord who has used Arkansas' Criminal Eviction Statute.
What's the least realistic onscreen portrayal of an internship you've ever seen?
I don't know that I have seen an onscreen portrayal of an internship.
What's one thing someone would never guess about you?
By age fifteen I had flown six planes and a helicopter.
Alexx Campbell
I grew up in San Francisco and San Anselmo (in Marin County).
Why did you decide to intern with Tenants Together?
I was excited about the work Tenants Together is doing because I think housing affects people's everyday lives in such a big way. Defending tenants' rights can also make a huge difference in creating and maintaining diverse, vibrant communities where all kinds of people can afford to live. I'm a law student, I wanted to get some hands-on legal experience, and I wanted to get a taste for policy advocacy and organizing work, too.
What’s next for you after your internship?
I'm going back to law school at UC Berkeley for my second year. In the fall, I'll be working at the East Bay Community Law Center's Clean Slate Clinic, helping people clean up their criminal records so they have an easier time re-entering society.
What's your dream job?
Like most people, I'm still trying to figure it out, but my vision so far is to become a lawyer who helps people directly and fights for social justice. That, or a bicycle-riding mobile ice cream taste tester!
What do you enjoy about working with fellow Tenants Together staff & volunteers?
Everyone has been super-friendly and interested in getting to know us interns! I've especially enjoyed the scientific debates about stuff that we know absolutely nothing about.
What's the craziest landlord story you've heard?
There was a case we read in law school about a landlord in Louisiana who used one-way mirrors to spy on his tenants, a newly-married couple. Creepy!
What's the least realistic onscreen portrayal of an internship you've ever seen?
Hmmm... I don't think I watch enough TV.
What's one thing someone would never guess about you?
That I'm 29, married, and have a daughter (People are constantly telling me I look like I'm 17).
Eunice Kim
Fullerton, California.
Why did you decide to intern with Tenants Together?
I would like to pursue public interest law, and after volunteering in an immigration advocacy non-profit, I wanted to expand my exposure to this legal field by getting involved in housing law.
What’s next for you after your internship?
Going to law school!
What's your dream job?
I’d like to be a public interest lawyer.
What do you enjoy about working with fellow Tenants Together staff & volunteers?
They are passionate not only about their jobs but also about their hobbies and interests, i.e. baking delicious homemade breads and scones.
What's the craziest landlord story you've heard?
The story of the landlords from hell who terrorized their tenants by--among many other atrocious acts-- sawing holes in the floor; cutting off gas, power, and electricity, and creating a false email account under the tenant's name to fire his lawyer.
What's the least realistic onscreen portrayal of an internship you've ever seen?
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in “The Internship”
What's one thing someone would never guess about you?
I don't know how to ride a bicycle.
Interested in applying to be a Tenants Together Legal Intern? Read more about our internships and how you can apply here.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
An international perspective from a TT intern
Last semester UC Berkeley student Daniel joined the Tenants Together team as a Spanish Translation Intern. Dani spent the semester translating outreach and know-your-rights materials from English to Spanish and counseling on our Tenant Foreclosure Hotline. Born and raised primarily in Spain, Dani brought an important international perspective to our work. He is spending this semester abroad in France and sent us a few of the sociological observations he's made so far:
"I've been asking about tenancy in France, and apparently there is a real tenancy crisis here. That is, the cities, especially Paris, are overcrowded and people are being stuffed into small apartments while being asked to pay sky-high rents. There are those who search for an apartment in Paris for months and must face defeat. Some activist organizations even break into people's unoccupied houses and place tenants in need of housing there."
"Also, the requirements for tenancy are much different. If you go to an immobilier (realtor agency), they ask for a lot of private information, not just whether you have a job, but also your bank account, your last paycheck, your tax accounts, and a letter from your employer. It all seems a bit excessive, which is why a lot of people prefer to make private arrangements through online postings, etc."
"On the positive side, they have a rather nice law which says that you can't evict anyone during the winter months, even if they don't pay their rent! There is also a rather helpful social services branch called Caisse d'allocations familiales (CAF) which financially assists students and low income families so that they can pay their rent. Even as a foreign student, I can opt for this aid! So in this sense, the French government is very generous."
Do you have an international perspective? Landlord/tenant struggles share commonalities across borders, and it's always helpful to glean inspiration and lessons from fellow activists, wherever they may be. Please share your observations on laws and organizing models from abroad in the comments.
"I've been asking about tenancy in France, and apparently there is a real tenancy crisis here. That is, the cities, especially Paris, are overcrowded and people are being stuffed into small apartments while being asked to pay sky-high rents. There are those who search for an apartment in Paris for months and must face defeat. Some activist organizations even break into people's unoccupied houses and place tenants in need of housing there."
"Also, the requirements for tenancy are much different. If you go to an immobilier (realtor agency), they ask for a lot of private information, not just whether you have a job, but also your bank account, your last paycheck, your tax accounts, and a letter from your employer. It all seems a bit excessive, which is why a lot of people prefer to make private arrangements through online postings, etc."
"On the positive side, they have a rather nice law which says that you can't evict anyone during the winter months, even if they don't pay their rent! There is also a rather helpful social services branch called Caisse d'allocations familiales (CAF) which financially assists students and low income families so that they can pay their rent. Even as a foreign student, I can opt for this aid! So in this sense, the French government is very generous."
Do you have an international perspective? Landlord/tenant struggles share commonalities across borders, and it's always helpful to glean inspiration and lessons from fellow activists, wherever they may be. Please share your observations on laws and organizing models from abroad in the comments.
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