Anti-Displacement Toolkit for Greater Boston

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= The Greater Boston Anti-Displacement Toolkit is "a multimedia organizing toolkit with collection of activities, how-to guides, facilitation plans, and resources that organizers and residents can use to fight displacement in their communities".

URL = https://www.greaterbostontoolkit.org/en?


Description

"As communities protect themselves and organize against displacement, this toolkit can be a resource for residents working together to create change. Communities most vulnerable to displacement are the most in touch with what is happening on the ground, and know which solutions will work best for themselves. This toolkit will help residents, neighborhood councils, organizations, and anyone organizing against displacement engage with each other in meaningful ways. Whether a community is trying to further understand how displacement shows up, create awareness among allies, or push for specific policy and programmatic solutions, this toolkit can help. It can be used to build power within residents, as well as push for concrete changes within the community. Through the use of data and stories, it touches the minds and hearts of those who care deeply about their community and can implement change.

This toolkit can be used by anyone wanting to work with others to fight displacement in their community, no matter their organizing experience. With easy-to-read, translatable, and accessible facilitation guides—whether you’re an experienced organizer, a service provider, a tenant or a homeowner, a life-long resident or newly arrived—this toolkit is for you and your community!

Protection of residents and local business, production of affordable housing, and preservation of existing affordable housing stock are all key pieces of preventing displacement. Multiple possibilities lie in actions that can and should be taken—there is no one-size-fits-all solution. A community’s wants and needs must come from the ground up—and we hope this toolkit will help you get there!"


Example

"Chelsea and Everett, Massachusetts are facing pressure from developers, resulting in land being swallowed up by investors and increased housing prices, and the forced displacement (or pushing-out) of residents and small businesses. These two communities have been involved in the Healthy Neighborhoods Study (HNS), a participatory action research project which aims to understand the relationship between development, neighborhood conditions, and health across nine communities in Massachusetts. HNS research from 2016-2019 indicates that 40% of Chelsea and 31% of Everett survey respondents expect to move in the next five years; of that research, 72% of Chelsea and 75% of Everett respondents indicated that they are proud to live in their community. However, the impact of displacement will negatively affect these respondents, other individuals, families, and communities. To learn more about displacement, including its impact on health, educational outcomes, and community power, view Pushed Out, a short video produced by Urban Displacement Project."