For a lot of the issues we talk about on this podcast, we all agree that there is a problem but when we talk about what to do about them, we wind up scratching our heads. With such huge and pervasive issues as the environment or the military-industrial complex, it feels like there is not a lot we can do outside of vote for the right people to make the right legislation. But this episode is one where we talk to someone who is really showing up and doing effective work in the housing space.

We talk to Isabel's former roommate, Allison Hrabar, who is a member of Democratic Socialists of America and a leader of their Stomp Out Slumlords initiative.

DC has some of the most pro-tenant laws on the books in the United States, but many either don't know about them or they go unenforced. In DC, landlords often evict people illegally and 26% of people getting evicted never even show up to court. Stomp Out Slumlords knocks on doors of people being evicted and informs them of their rights, organizes tenants associations, and advocates with other groups as part of a broader collective called Reclaim Rent Control for more rent control in DC.

Allison has done incredible work in DC and gives us a real model for how people who are passionate about an issue can organize to address those issues themselves without needing to wait around for a politician to regulate the problem away.

You can learn more about Stomp Out Slumlords here: https://www.stompoutslumlords.org/

You can learn more about Democratic Socialists of America here: dsausa.org