No matter where we come from, or how much money we make, we all deserve a safe and healthy place to call home. In this episode we meet Jamie, a mom who lives in subsidized housing in Houston, Texas, who joins with other moms to stand up to landlords and local officials whose policies have kept Black and brown families trapped in unsafe homes for years.

 
Before and after Hurricane Harvey, Jamie and organizers in Houston came together to take collective action and push for change. Along the way they connected with leaders in Puerto Rico who have also been resisting and re-building in the wake of ongoing disaster.

 
We hear from renowned Puerto Rican activist and former political prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera, Luis O. Gallardo Rivera, director of Centro para la Reconstrucción del Hábitat and Adriana Godreau, director of Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, who along with our host Chrishelle Palay engage in on the ground work and advocacy in their communities, in the halls of Congress, and beyond.

Learn more about the story and find the transcript on radioproject.org.

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Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Thank you to the But Next Time team. To listen to all of the But Next Time episodes and access video versions with Spanish subtitles visit www.butnexttime.com. You can also learn more about the organizations featured in the podcast and access resources like a listening and discussion guide.

But Next Time was created as part of Rise-Home Stories, a project in which multimedia storytellers and housing, land, and racial justice advocates came together to reimagine the past, present, and future of our communities by transforming the stories we tell about them. The Rise-Home Stories Project includes five pieces of media (a video game, children’s book, animated short, and online storytelling site, and the But Next Time Podcast) that help us rethink our relationships to land and home. For more info visit www.risehomestories.com

 

FEATURING: Jamie, Mother in Houston Texas who is part of the 12 Moms campaign, Zoe Middleton, southeast Texas and Houston Co-Director for Texas Housers, Erika Bowman, community Organizer with Texas Housers, Cashauna Hill, executive director of the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, Ariadna Godreau, founder and director of Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, Luis O. Gallardo Rivera, executive director of Center for Habitat Reconstruction, Oscar Lopez Rivera, Puerto Rican activist and former political prisoner, María Yvelisse Inirio, executive assistant of Corporación del Proyecto ENLACE del Caño Martín Peña, Mariolga Juliá Pacheco, director of Citizen Participation Corporación del Proyecto ENLACE del Caño Martín Peña 

BUT NEXT TIME: This episode is hosted by Chrishelle Palay and Rose Arrieta, and produced by Leah Mahan. 

MAKING CONTACT: This episode is hosted by Lucy Kang and produced by Anita Johnson, Lucy Kang, Salima Hamirani, and Amy Gastelum. Our executive director is Jina Chung.

MUSIC: All original compositions by Fernando Arruda including “But Next Time,” “Going Back,” and "Let There Be Fire,” and "Next Blues."
 

Learn More: 

But Next Time Podcast
Rise Home Stories
Working Films