Ayanna Pressley is an advocate, a policy-maker, an activist, and a survivor. On November 6, 2018, Ayanna was elected to represent Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, making her the first woman of color to be elected to Congress from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Ayanna believes that the people closest to the pain should be closest to the power, and that a diversity of voices in the political process is essential to crafting more effective public policy.
For too many residents of the 7th District, lack of access to safe, affordable housing contributes to negative health outcomes, shrinks economic opportunity, and severely restricts social mobility. As affordable and market-rate housing stock - particularly in urban districts like the 7th - is increasingly concentrated in shrinking areas, we see greater stratification and segregation between and within communities, limiting opportunity and hardening inequities. Housing instability impacts residents at all stages of life - from children who develop chronic health conditions as a result of unsafe conditions, to families who are unable to build wealth by purchasing a home, to seniors who unable to age in place because they can no longer afford to live in their homes.
The problem is widespread - thousands of individuals and families in Massachusetts are experiencing homelessness or significant housing cost burden on any given day, burdens that fall disproportionately on low-income and minority communities. Nearly half of low-income families in the Commonwealth spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs (cost-burdened), and nearly 1 in 10 spends more than 50 percent of their income on housing (severely cost burdened), according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition; among middle-income families, those earning between 80 and 100 percent of the annual median income, 1 in 5 is cost-burdened. At the same time, a one day count in January 2017 showed that nearly 18,000 people in Massachusetts were experiencing homelessness, including more than 11,000 in families with children.
To solve this challenge, we not only need to think creatively about how we can increase the supply of affordable and market-rate housing, but also how we can be intentional in linking housing with public transit, walking and biking infrastructure, open space, healthcare, opportunities to purchase healthy food, and access to great schools - in order to ensure that opportunity is not limited.
On the City Council, I have fought to increase the percentage of affordable housing units under the City’s Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP) and supported efforts to protect tenants and homeowners from discriminatory or unreasonable evictions. In Congress, I will work with my colleagues to stand up against the harmful steps being taken by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under Secretary Ben Carson, and to advance policies that increase equitable housing access for every person and family in the 7th Congressional District.