When communities face the aftermath of catastrophes, what does it take to ensure that the next time will be different?

In Houston, it takes a city council member who bicycles in her neighborhood to hear from constituents about what they need most. It takes 12 moms who organize to take legal action against the landlords that have kept their families in moldy, substandard apartments. And it takes a city official who blows the whistle on corrupt and dangerous practices related to housing policy.

 
Travel to Texas with our hosts Chrishelle Palay and Rose Arrieta to meet these changemakers in our final episode of this limited-run series. They witness people power in action, as author and artist Adrienne Maree Brown describes it, “…bending the future, together, into something we have never experienced.”

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: Jaime, 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; Tom McCasland, Houston Director of Housing and Community Development; Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston; Ms. Hankins, Resident of Houston giving testimony at public meeting; Tarsha Jaskon, Houston District B Council Member 

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 Amy Gastelum 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 "Rumors of Hope." 

 

Learn More: 

But Next Time Podcast: https://butnexttime.com
Rise Home Stories: https://risehomestories.com/
Working Films: https://www.workingfilms.org/
12 Moms Collective and Texas Housers: https://texashousers.org/tag/12-moms/
Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center: https://lafairhousing.org/
Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico: https://ayudalegalpr.org/