By Alison Chopel et al. from Nonprofit Quarterly

By Natalie Orenstein from Oaklandside

Excerpt:

“The only reason why businesses like this could exist,” said Tobias Damm-Luhr, staff attorney at the Sustainable Economies Law Center, is because “people hoard land and housing. They create these artificial scarcities such that people who don’t have a home or any other option are forced to try to live in places where they have no legal right to live.” 

"When we prioritize somebody’s passive income over life, we have a problem."

Read the full article here.

(Originally published September 30, 2025)

🚨 BIG NEWS: California could finally legalize communal living! 🚨

The Housing Choice for All Act is here! A bold statewide proposal to remove outdated zoning restrictions that punish people for how they live and who they live with.

This legislation would end legal discrimination against non-family households, shared housing, and co-living communities by eliminating the distinction between “dwelling units” and “group housing”, and we’re proud to help lead the charge. Sign on to support here!

A group of twelve people of diverse ages, genders, and backgrounds pose together outdoors on a sunny day, smiling and relaxed. They are standing and kneeling on grass near trees, with a red woven blanket and bones in the foreground. A wooden garden structure and lush greenery are visible in the background, suggesting a communal or rural setting.

Resisting and Healing from Violence in Our Housing System

The Law Center supports healing from legacies of violence that pervade our housing systems. We do this by partnering with visionary organizations led by poor, houseless, Indigenous, Black and other POC communities usually excluded from power. Informed by those relationships, we envision policy changes and develop legal tools that allow diverse communities (including non-traditional families) to stay rooted in place.

Wood Street Commons Community (https://woodstreetcommons.org/; check out their Instagram too)

Wood Street Commons provides vital sanctuaries of housing and healing for Oakland’s houseless population. It empowers houseless residents to lead, organize, and create dignified solutions for the housing crisis. 

On Sunday August 25th, 2024, the Law Center invited our closest Land and Housing Justice clients, collaborators, partners, and friends to join us for an afternoon of art making at the 510 Firehouse, located in Oakland’s Chinatown.

When we were deciding what to screen print, Law Center Staff Attorney Veryl Pow shared that Sarah Augustine — co- founder and Executive Director of the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery — told him about a prayer she says every morning, “Thank you creator for the land, our body,” which is inspired by a prayer from the Nez Perce tribe. Members of the Law Centers Land Stewardship Circle agreed “The Land Our Body” was a value our community shared that we could screen print. Sarah Cauich holds up a screen print while Sandra De Leon (Somos Tierra) is to her left setting up for another round of printing.

We, at the Sustainable Economies Law Center, condemn Sheng Thao’s recent enthusiastic response to Governor Newsom’s cruel and unconscionable Executive Order N-1-24, from July 25, 2024, justifying the escalated and aggressive sweep of our unhoused Oakland neighbors in the wake of the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson decision by the Supreme Court. At the Law Center, our work focuses on building an inclusive and democratic grassroots social ecosystem by supporting land and housing justice and solidarity economy movements.

On May 23, the Law Center held a labor-focused community appreciation event at Kinfolx Cafe in Occupied Huchiun (aka Downtown Oakland) where we invited some of our collaborators to come enjoy each others’ company for an evening. Our guests of honor that night were poverty scholar teachers from Poor Magazine, a poor people–led/Indigenous people–led, grassroots, non-profit arts organization dedicated to providing revolutionary media access, art, education, and advocacy to silenced youth, adults, and elders in poverty across Mama Earth.  The Law Center has been supporting Poor with legal advice on land and housing. Some of us have also attended Poor Magazine’s twice-annual People Skool seminar, which is coming up on August 24 and 25 (find out more here). That day, we invited folks at Poor to share their scholarship around labor.  We deeply appreciate them for sharing it.

By Keith Schneider, The New York Times

Imagine Indigenous and Black people free

to love and live with liberated Land.

Imagine the unique gifts the Land and her people have

to offer future generations.

This is happening now—a groundswell, a watershed moment.

This is happening here—in Northern California

We all want safe and healthy neighborhoods and stable housing, for ourselves, our family, and our kin. What we came to realize during our May #TenantsWithoutLandlords campaign, is the breadth and depth to which our community is living that vision. Our community is building housing policies that strengthen tenants' rights, identifying and utilizing legal tools to liberate housing and land, and organizing communities who govern their own housing and neighborhoods, so that we can take care of each other. We’re building a future our community deserves and it’s so exciting!