West Side Court Support: Be there for families facing eviction
On the West Side, we look out for each other. That's why we're learning about the evictions process. We know many of our neighbors could lose their homes when the eviction moratorium lifts in mid-September, and we want to be there to provide support. And, we want families at risk of eviction to know their rights and understand what might be coming.
This week, West Siders joined together for a virtual training to understand how evictions work – from getting an eviction filed, to going to court, to removing an eviction from your record. At the upcoming West Side Voices meeting on Tuesday, September 8, we’ll debrief the training and discuss how to support West Siders navigating the process – whether it’s providing child care or tech support for online hearings, or connecting neighbors to resources, and more. Register for the West Side Voices meeting here to make sure you get the Zoom link!
Click here to watch a recording of our training on how evictions work.
Click here for the presentation slides.
Thanks to everyone who attended the August 23 meeting on Evictions Defense!
Court Support is the next step in our ongoing work to defend against evictions and displacement on the West Side. Thanks to everyone who attended our August 23 meeting on eviction defense at Parque Castillo. Here’s a recap of what we discussed while munching on burritos (thanks, El Burrito!):
- Lifelong West Sider and community advocate Marcus Troy shared his experience standing up to his landlord and fighting for housing stability. He said, “Keep locals local.” We agree. Fighting displacement is critical to making #WestSideStrong.
- Many tenants talked about the challenge of paying rent. It was hard before COVID-19 hit and thousands of people nationwide lost their jobs. Now, the pandemic continues on with no end in sight, the economic recovery is a long way off, and people are worried about what’s coming this winter. While the situation feels dire, speakers underscored the importance of staying persistent in our housing justice efforts on the West Side and beyond.
- Vanessa del Campo Chacon, a leader from Inquilinxs Unidxs tenants’ rights group, shared the story of tenants who, with collective action, successfully fought against notorious Minneapolis landlord Steve Frenz – and won. With incredible tenacity, grit, and hope, she and her neighbors bought their apartment building to form the Sky Without Limits Housing Cooperative. When tenants come together, we can shift the paradigm and build community wealth!
West Siders: Are you ready to be a voter?
Whatever our color, origin or zip code, our vote is our power. This election season, we will vote in record numbers to swear in a government of, by, and for the people. Now is the time to confirm you're registered to vote – and get registered if you're not.
WSCO supports POC journalists calling for change at the Star Tribune. Here’s why you should, too.
Recently, the Star Tribune lifted up WSCO’s Solidarity Fund for COVID Relief, organized to protect families most impacted by the pandemic – and the resulting economic fallout – from evictions. We are glad to see our work and our community gaining attention throughout the metro, and we’re grateful to the reporters shining a light on one of the many grassroots efforts supporting Twin Cities families during the pandemic.
However, we were disappointed when we saw that the original version of the article used the phrase “people here illegally” to describe undocumented people eligible for support through WSCO’s Solidarity Fund. At our urging, the Star Tribune eventually amended the articule to use the word “undocumented.”
New mural will transform West Side’s iconic Gateway Pedestrian Bridge in St. Paul
On August 3, 2020, artists Ernesto Ybarra and Xilam Bilam will begin their two-week transformation of the West Side’s iconic Gateway Pedestrian Bridge (also commonly called the “Girl Scout Bridge”), which provides a safe pedestrian crossing on Delos Street over Robert Street on the West Side of St. Paul.
Ybarra, born and raised on the West Side, and his cousin Bilam, a St. Paul-based artist, will create a mural, commissioned by West Side Community Organization, that celebrates the history, culture, and people of the West Side, connecting past and future generations.
PLEASE NOTE: During the mural installation, Robert Street will be reduced to one lane of traffic.
SAFE Renters Ordinance Passed
We did it!
The S.A.F.E. Housing Tenant Protection Ordinance passed City Council with unanimous support this Wednesday, making St. Paul home to the strongest renter rights in Minnesota. This ordinance is the result of community efforts- so thank you to all you West Siders who came out to support this issue by giving our Council member Rebecca Noecker a call!
Starting March 1st of 2021, this ordinance will change five points of tenant-landlord law:
- capping security deposits at one month’s rent
- reforming tenant screening criteria (with regards to credit scores and criminal history)
- forbidding landlords from terminating leases without a “Just Cause” in writing
- requiring landlords of affordable housing to give advance notice of sale and
- requiring landlords to provide tenants with a manuel on their rights and responsibilities
Root & Restore Book Club Scheduling - We Keep Us Safe
Book Club- We Keep Us Safe (author Zach Norris)
Click here for book club registration!
WSCO, in partnership with Root & Restore, will host this book club. You will be contacted with more information once your registration is filled out.
To build community power and a shared vision of what real community safety is, Root & Restore St Paul is hosting a book club this summer to read and discuss Zach Norris's We Keep Us Safe. Norris presents a compelling argument for why our current system of policing and punishment doesn't work and why we need to transition to a care-based model for building safer, healthier communities.
Let's get this party started and pin down a date for us to meet online to talk about the book!
WSCO Tenant Protections Letter
As Board directors for the West Side Community Organization (WSCO), the district planning council for Saint Paul’s mulit-ethnic enclave across the Mississippi River from downtown, our work has long been involved with housing justice. Injustice and displacement have impacted the West Side for generations and the Covid-19 pandemic has only aggravated the already precarious housing conditions of many long-term West Side residents. But that is not all.
The social unrest that has erupted in the Twin Cities is not only a response to the murder of George Floyd and others at the hands of the police. It is a response to other racial injustices, against Black and Brown communities, with housing injustice as just one of them. Community has spoken at a magnitude and collective clarity few of us have ever witnessed in our lifetime. The listening has happened and now is the time to act. We will not stand for injustice, we will not make excuses for inaction, and we are pressing elected officials to make meaningful change that protects the basic needs of every individual and family.
That’s why WSCO so strongly supports the S.A.F.E renter protection ordinances coming before the Saint Paul City Council on June 24th for a public hearing and final vote.