Act! Speak! Build!

By Evan Davies, Habitat for Humanity International volunteer mobilization specialist

I can’t remember a time that I wasn’t aware that housing is typically the biggest household expense. It certainly is for me. But until I saw what a difference affordable housing could make in someone’s life, I never realized how essential housing and advocacy events like Act! Speak! Build! Week are.

Dorothy’s house was one of the first Habitat homes I stepped into. She was proud of her home, showing pictures of where she came from and what she does.

In hearing her story, it dawned on me that really only one thing changed for her to go from where she was to where she is now. She didn’t get a new big job — she loved working as a crossing guard — or win the lottery. She just had the opportunity to live in an affordable house.

Unfortunately, that same opportunity isn’t available for far too many Americans. Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reports that the number of Americans with severe housing cost burdens, meaning they spend more than half their income on housing, remains at unprecedented levels. Housing affordability is an issue that touches many Americans, whether they are rent-challenged college students, aspiring homeowners trying to build credit or existing homeowners trying to build equity.

Right now, more than 120 groups, mostly from colleges and universities, are joining together to advocate for affordable housing and fair access to credit during Act! Speak! Build! Week.

The advocacy undertaken during this annual week can take many forms:

• Last year, a kindergarten class in Los Angeles decorated awareness-raising T-shirts and classroom doors to educate their school about the need for affordable housing.
• The Mercer University campus chapter joined with Georgia’s Macon Area Habitat for the #blightoutofsight campaign, demonstrating what a blighted house looks like by constructing one on campus and asking students to call on local officials to eliminate similar houses in the community. It worked — the mayor promised that 100 such homes would be demolished, with more to come.
• This year, Vanderbilt University’s Allee Smith is taking her high school Habitat experience to college and leading the Tennessee university campus chapter’s largest advocacy event ever.

Every contribution — large or small — helps. Here are two ways you can join us to help millions more families.

• Sign up for Act! Speak! Build Week to advocate in your own area. We’ll send you resources to make your week possible.
• Take action right now. Sign our petition to support #accesstocredit for working families that do not qualify for conventional mortgages.

A rising tide lifts all boats. Let’s be that tide and help provide more people like Dorothy with affordable housing.