MEHC is now Call Marin Home

It’s OFFICIAL! Call Marin Home, Marin’s new housing coalition, is launched!

Our annual Friendraiser on October 30th opened the next chapter for the Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative.

We announced that MEHC is now Call Marin Home, the coordinating force behind a new Marin housing coalition.

For the last 18 years, MEHC has been going alone in our housing advocacy. We are incredibly proud of the work we have done, but it’s not enough. And so we are joining forces with other organizations that understand the gravity of our housing crisis and the need to address it. That is why we are now Call Marin Home.This new housing coalition is the result of the efforts of many organizations. Several years ago, Alex Schafran, author and researcher focused on housing and segregation, reached out to me regarding local organizations interested in banding together. These four orgs — Canal Alliance, Community Action Marin, Legal Aid, and North Marin Community Services — had worked together during Covid to protect our most vulnerable community members. It became clear to them that they shared a primary interest in housing as their #1 issue. They began the conversation on forming a coalition.Not much later, Marin Community Foundation (MCF) reached out regarding a proposed regional bond measure for affordable housing. This ultimately led to a temporary coalition, Housing For All Marin, which was led by Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) with MEHC working closely alongside. The coalition pivoted to Prop 5 on last year’s ballot, and Marin exceeded expectations, further energizing efforts to create a broad coalition.

Covid — and a ballot measure — pointed the way

MEHC eagerly joined the movement. We know we need more strength and reach to solve our housing crisis. The Canal Working Group provided a model. Early in the Covid epidemic, it was clear that Marin was managing Covid exceptionally well, and when vaccinations came, we were quickly the most vaccinated County in the country. Many have assumed Marin’s success was due to its wealth. Of course resources help, but it could have gone very differently. After all, only a few years earlier, Marin had been the center of anti-vaccine sentiment and had one of the lowest vaccination rates in the state. When Covid hit, the Canal Working Group organized to protect our most vulnerable community members. And it worked. Vaccination rates in immigrant communities are often low… ours were not. Marin was a leader in protecting tenants from evictions and providing support to quarantine outside of the home. Our outcomes were very good.

There are three major take-aways for us. First, acting together works better. Second, when Marin sets its mind to something, it has the resources and ability to achieve a lot. We are in very difficult times, and our local capacity is critical right now. Lastly, protecting our most vulnerable protects ourselves. We should protect the vulnerable because it’s the right thing to do, but it also benefits all of us. We all feel the impact of the housing crisis. For some, it’s life or death, and for others, it’s the inconvenience of sitting in 101 commuter traffic. We are all impacted.

The three “Ps” are the path forward for Call Marin Home

The housing coalition is unique in that it will address the “3 Ps” of affordable housing — Housing Production, Affordable Housing Preservation and Tenant Protections.

While “environmental” is no longer in our name, the values that shaped MEHC remain central to our mission. Call Marin Home continues to champion environmentally sustainable development consistent with MEHC’s founding vision.

We are extremely grateful to MCF for funding the planning process and now the launch of the coalition, and for their wise guidance along the way. Thanks to all the organizations and people who made this possible, including the MEHC board, MCF, the founding coalition members Canal Alliance, Community Action Marin, Legal Aid of Marin, North Bay Leadership Council, North Marin Community Services, Homeward Bound, and Habitat for Humanity. Thanks to our newest steering committee members, Eden Housing, Bolinas Community Land Trust, Thompson Dorfman and the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce.

We look forward to working with our community. Together, we are building a brighter future for Marin.

— Jenny Silva, Executive Director

About the name “Call Marin Home” The name Call Marin Home was the title of the 2023 Class Project of the San Rafael Leadership Institute, which was funded in significant part by the Marin Leadership Foundation (MLF), a California public benefit corporation.

The Class Project involved extensive research and public outreach, resulting in a thought-provoking video entitled Call Marin Home. The video illustrated, in personal terms, how the housing shortage in Marin County negatively impacts the local workforce, their employers, as well as the communities they serve. With the support of MLF, the video has been used as an educational tool to draw attention to the need for more housing in Marin County. The Class Project’s name, Call Marin Home, was intended to personalize the lack of affordable housing in Marin County.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR FRIENDRAISER
A very good time was had by all!

R E S O U R C E S
Explore the broad library of resources on our website including news, policy statements, advocacy, upcoming meetings, fact sheets and backgrounders on affordable housing – and the lack of it – in Marin. If you have any questions or suggestions, contact us here>>