At Georgetowne Homes, Michelle Wu Announces Agenda to Protect and Stabilize Renters

Boston, MA — Today, Michelle Wu joined tenants at the Georgetowne Homes to call for citywide action to improve living conditions and protect tenants from eviction across Boston; and pledge to fight for tenant protections including rent stabilization, rental subsidies and building new affordable units. She then visited with a tenant to see their apartment firsthand and talk about the history of activism. Watch the full press conference.

Georgetowne Homes has been an epicenter of organizing, as Georgetowne Tenants United and other organizations have fought back against a wave of evictions served during the pandemic. Georgetowne Tenants United has also been working to organize to get proactive repairs for water damage and other health and safety concerns. 

Michelle Wu’s housing agenda, released yesterday, includes bold plans to protect renters and ensure they can afford to stay in their homes, including advocating for rent stabilization, rental subsidies, increasing affordable housing minimums and zoning reforms to incentivize new affordable development, particularly near transit.

“Housing is a human right. I stand with tenants across Boston who are organizing and advocating for housing stability as the foundation for health, safety, and opportunity. The pandemic has deepened the housing and displacement crisis, and we need bold action to keep families in Boston. City government has the power to act, and we need leadership to deliver housing justice,” said Michelle Wu.

“It’s been a tough time, but we are looking forward to better days for our community, because this is our home, this is where we live. We don’t want to get out of here, we want to live here. We’re looking forward to working better with our community and keep it safe, and for our children to have better days,” said Gerdy Paulissaint, member of Georgetowne Tenants United.

“Georgetowne is saying, ‘give us your rent, give us your money, and if you have a problem, you can call maintenance and they may come out.’ And that’s been a problem for a long time, even before the pandemic. We need them to do their jobs - to give us what we need... We have to stand up against this because this is going on around the city. We need people to stand up for themselves, make some noise, and say ‘we’re not going to stand for this,’” said Arthur Sutton, member of Georgetowne Tenants United.

Michelle Wu has also released bold proposals to create a Cabinet-level Chief of Worker Empowerment, close the childcare gap, reform the Boston Police Department through the union contract, transform our public schools, enact a Boston Green New Deal and Just Recovery Plan, Food Justice Agenda, Digital Equity Agenda and more.