People's Platform for Land and Housing  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Robin Reichardt, robin@ges-coalition.org  Housing Justice and Community-led Solutions for Denver’s Housing Crisis What: The People’s Platform for Land and Housing is organizing a series of Candidate Forums to identify visionary leaders who recognize that communities and justice come first. Website link: www.DenverAffordableForWho.org  for recordings and written responses will be available on this website that will be live soon: Candidate and Community Events Saturday, March 4th, 2:15pm, Mayoral Candidates, Bruce Randolph School (3955 Steele St.) [Live upload coming soon!!] Tuesday, March 7th, 6-8pm, “Let’s Talk about Affordable Housing”, Manual High School Saturday, March 14th, 10:00 am 12:30 pm, At Large Candidates, New Life Christian Center (12505 Elmendorf Pl.) Saturday, March 18th, 10:00- 1:00pm, District 8 candidates, Zion Senior Center (5151 E. 33rd Ave) Tuesday, March 21, 6pm-8pm, District 9 candidates, Manual High School By far, the most important issue for Denver voters this election cycle is housing, specifically, the damaging impacts of the housing crisis on all Denverites and the public-private failure to solve it. The People’s Land and Housing platform invites Denver’s 2023 Mayoral and City Council candidates to take on some of Denver’s most critical issues around affordable housing, land use and the crisis of housing instability that threatens a majority of households across the region, and beyond. For too long and with minimal impact, city leaders have partnered with the private sector to leverage their immense power and resources to build our way out of the housing crisis. While no one argues against more housing, very few question the inability of public private partnerships to provide housing for very low-income residents, who are also disproportionately people of color. A housing justice and community-led approach seeks to cultivate dynamic partnerships between city leaders and communities, first. Only communities themselves possess an intimate knowledge of their daily struggles with housing. As such, communities need to be supported as developers and stewards of public assets, because they possess critical knowledge about how to solve it. Housing justice and community-led solutions are growing in number and sophistication. We need leaders who will learn, listen, and lead with us.  Rising houselessness is both the most visible manifestation of the crisis and most deserving of immediate solutions. Yet nearly a majority of Denverites suffer rather than benefit from the current state of housing. Black and Latinx communities, those experiencing homelessness, the youth, immigrants, and low to moderate-income residents suffer the most both economically and in terms of health. Additionally, ever larger portions of middle-class residents can’t afford to buy a home anymore, or face unstable rentals. Focus of the People’s Platform for Land and Housing  Houselessness: The most visible impact of the housing crisis are the tens of thousands of people who are unhoused on any given day in Denver. Denver needs a Mayor and Council Members who support housing first models that include city-owned and operated public housing, master leasing schemes, and housing that respects the rights of residents and specific support needs of unhoused and low-income families and individuals.  Housing Justice: 51% of renter households are cost burdened in Denver. 27% are moderately burdened, and 24% severely burdened. 64% of people at 0-30%AMI are severely cost-burdened, paying over 50% of their income on rent.  Denver needs a Mayor and Council Members that support rent-stabilization, support measures to curb the inflationary pressure on prices caused by the financialization of housing, support just-cause eviction measures, support right to counsel, and support tenant organizing among other, justice, and community-centered solutions. Social Housing: Social housing is decommodified, democratically controlled by residents, and promotes social, racial, and class equality. Social housing provides ownership opportunities to tenants whether it’s a high rise downtown or a mobile home park. Examples include land trusts, resident owned communities (ROC), city owned affordable housing, and housing cooperatives of various types. We need candidates who support policies that provide resources and technical assistance for tenants to purchase the buildings they rent. In exchange for resources and assistance, the city can restrict the future sale of the property to provide affordability in perpetuity, and possibly at a fraction of the cost of PPP models.  Event organizing partners include:  East Colfax Community Collective, Metro Caring, East5ide Unified, African Chamber of Commerce, Wezesha Dada Center Community Outreach Service Center, Housekeys Action Network Denver, Urban Symbiosis, Denver Street Partnership, and Stephen Polk