HOUSING JUSTICE

The Housing Justice Coalition is an outgrowth of the work done in Seattle for Fair Chance Housing back in 2016/17, which became law in Seattle on February 19, 2018. While this was breakthrough legislation in preventing background checks to deny housing, the Seattle Fair Chance ordinance falls short of protecting the rights of those convicted of a sex offense by allowing property owners to search the sex offense registry.

In 2019, the Statewide Reentry Council convened stakeholders interested in drafting similar legislation statewide. Our Executive Director, Alex Mayo, attended these early meetings and was involved with the group until the group decided to draft language similar to that of Seattle, once again failing to ensure protections for those convicted of a sex offense. Fortunately for our community, the proposed bill was not successful in getting out of committee or being voted into law.

Wanting to regroup, a newly invigorated coalition came together in early 2021, this time with a larger group of directly impacted folks who insisted that any legislation be “All of us or none of us.” Alex joined other groups such as the Freedom Project and What’s Next Washington in asserting that housing is a right for ALL OF US… that we would not support legislation that creates “carve outs” for those with a sex offense.

Join our Town Hall to learn more about the Coalition, our involvement, and how YOU can get involved.