Family Power in Action: Rent Stabilization passes in Concord!

Maricela Guerrero, Executive Director, Rocketship California

Family power and advocacy continues to be something that sets our organization apart. I’m proud to share that the rent stabilization law passed in Concord in large part to the advocacy of Rocketship Futuro families and Becca Alvarenga, our Education Organizer in the East Bay. This is a huge win for our Rocketship Futuro families and East Bay community.

About a year ago, Monument Impact, an organization focused on the advancement of economic and racial equity in Contra Costa County, approached our Rocketship families to collaborate on an initiative to stabilize rent. This initiative had been in the works for nine years, but they came to us because they knew that our parents hold power to create change in their communities. And Monument Impact’s perception of our families was right.

Our Rocketship Futuro families got right to work and courageously made their power known in the community. They were tasked with gathering 200 signatures in support of the 1,000 goal to emphasize the importance of this initiative. Alongside Monument Impacts efforts, our families exceeded this goal and presented 1,400 signatures to the mayor. Three of our family leaders, Julia Claudio, Tamara Peterson, and Uziel Acosta, met with Vice Mayor Carlyn Obringer, an elected official who represents District 2 where RFA is located and many of our families who live. As RFA parent Tamara shared, “It was important to sit down and give our personal impact of how constant rent increases impacted families. We had to humanize the issue and show her that our goal was the same – to keep families in Concord.” And when it came time to vote, Vice Mayor Obringer voted yes. This is the power of our Rocketship parents.

Rent stabilization in Concord is a huge win for our families and for our Rocketship community. This will keep our families in the city they call home and open the door for more families to stay in Concord and choose Rocketship Futuro. And our families did not do this alone. We had teachers share testimonies in front of city council (Duran Naicker and Jessica Acosta), we had school staff write emails (Chris Kelly, Vienna Bautista, Karel Roa), and we had our Principal Joelle Daguilh and Office Manager Monica Navarro show up to meetings alongside our families. We also had so many more staff and families sign the petition. Together, this is the power of Rocketship. ONE band, ONE sound!

Published on April 1, 2024