Announcing our Affordable Housing Month Honorees!

Living in the East Bay, we have all been touched by the affordable housing crisis. Many of us have had personal experiences with housing insecurity or know friends or family who have been displaced.

We are all too familiar with the problem, but how often do we get to talk about the solutions? The housing crisis is solvable, with a whole lot of people power.

Affordable Housing Month is a time to celebrate our wins — millions of dollars in bonds raised for affordable housing, the grand opening of new affordable housing developments, and the passage of new tenant protections that will keep people in their homes.

Each year at our Affordable Housing Month Kickoff Celebration we honor three of our housing heroes, individuals or organizations who are going the distance to create the world that we need. We are so excited to announce our 2023 honorees — Mike Rawson, Cathy Eberhardt, and the Raise the Roof Coalition.

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Meet Our Honorees

MIKE RAWSON

Mike Rawson is a long-time public interest attorney and housing advocate. For over 25 years, he was the Executive Director of the Public Interest Law Project. Mike has touched many housing issues over his years as an attorney, including Housing Element Law, the Surplus Land Act, redevelopment and more.

Mike was also a founding member of East Bay Housing Organizations, going back to its early days as Oakland Housing Organizations. With his extensive knowledge and experience and his many connections throughout the State and across the country, Mike has been an invaluable resource and mentor for countless housing professionals and activists.

cathy eberhardt

Cathy Eberhardt enrolled in EBHO’s Leadership Academy in 2018 and has since been an active member in EBHO’s Resident Community Organizing Program and Oakland Committee since. She provided a key voice for residents of affordable housing in the process to update EBHO’s Strategic Plan in 2022.

Cathy also serves as the Vice Chair of the Oakland Mayor’s Commissions for Persons with Disabilities and is a member of the Oakland Just Cities Equity Working Group Committee, All Home Community Partners Council Committee, and EBALDC’s Resident Leadership Council. Cathy’s experience of being unhoused and living with a disability inspires her to fight for housing justice in every way that she can.

RAISE THE ROOF COALITION

The Raise the Roof Coalition has been working in Concord since 2016, and Contra Costa County since 2020, to advocate for tenant protections, affordable housing, good jobs, and immigrant protections. In a tough suburban environment with a challenging City Council and Board of Supervisors, the Coalition has achieved real wins including the passage of a sanctuary-like policy in 2017; eviction moratoria in Concord, Antioch, Pittsburg, San Pablo, and the County in 2020; a rent registry in Concord and, most recently, a tenant anti-harassment ordinance in Concord. 

Raise the Roof has also drawn regional attention to the reality that Contra Costa County has the highest rate of evictions in the Bay Area and faced a 36% increase in homelessness and called for tenants’ right to legal representation in the courts. Raise the Roof advocated for County Measure X funds to be used to support tenant legal services. EBHO is actively working with coalition members on housing justice narrative shift, the Concord Housing Element, and the Concord Naval Weapons Station affordable housing advocacy.

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Join Us on May 4th to Celebrate!

You’re invited to join us in celebrating Mike Rawson, Cathy Eberhardt, the Raise the Roof Coalition, and our entire affordable housing community at our Affordable Housing Month Kickoff Celebration!

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Thank You to Our Kickoff Sponsors!