Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Kalamazoo, hosted by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation (KZCF), and Interfaith Strategy for Advocacy and Action in the Community (ISAAC) have been calling on community members to support new local housing laws that to address structural racism and inequality in Kalamazoo.

"We've seen homelessness and housing instability worsen due to COVID-19," Sholanna Lewis, director of TRHT Kalamazoo said. "One critical piece of the puzzle to address housing issues in Kalamazoo is removing discriminatory barriers that are more likely to impact Black people and other people of color."

TRHT Kalamazoo has been advocating for support of the new ordinances through social media and other community outreach, sharing specific action steps community members can take to show their support ahead of tonight’s Kalamazoo City Commission’s virtual ordinance hearing.

The city commission is expected to read the proposal this evening with a final vote taking place on September 8.

“Both TRHT Kalamazoo and ISAAC have been reaching out to our wider networks on social media and in person over the last two years,” Lewis said. “Our goal is to let community members and organizations know how they can advocate for the ordinance. Whether that’s through attending public hearing sessions, emailing and calling the city commission, mailing letters or sharing posts on social media, we’re calling on everyone we can to voice their support.”  

The proposal would create new and stronger protections for:

• Gender and sexual identity

• People with previous evictions

• People who use housing vouchers

• People who use a county identification card

• People who were previously incarcerated

Through the proposal, application fees would be regulated and a civil rights commission would be established to review cases of discrimination that would fall under the purview of the ordinance.

If adopted, this would be the first major change to address housing issues in Kalamazoo since gender identity and sexual orientation were added as local protections in 2009. As TRHT Kalamazoo shared, similar ordinances were adopted by the city of Grand Rapids in 2019. 

“We have seen some pushback [about the ordinance], largely from landlords,” Lewis said “Some of the questions and arguments we have heard during public discussions are deeply entrenched in racial bias. There are some loud voices speaking out in favor of an unjust system that allows discrimination based on blanket policies. This ordinance asks landlords to fairly consider potential tenants as individuals. It should not be controversial, as similar policies are present in cities across the state and nation.”  

Lewis said that for years TRHT Kalamazoo and their partners have been talking to people who have experienced housing instability and discrimination and they hope the community will support residents in an action-oriented way.

“We are hoping for a strong show of support at the public hearing on August 17 and that the commission will move the policy forward to the second hearing for a final vote on September 8. We want to ensure that the civil rights board has adequate enforcement power, with people on the board and staff with the right skills and perspectives. Sustaining momentum in our advocacy will be key to seeing more protections for residents.”

TRHT Kalamazoo's work is another example of efforts underway to address systemic racism in housing, in last week's edition of The Download we highlighted Flint TRHT's approach to community healing amid systemic racism in public housing. 

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