On February 15, Make the Road Action and Make the Road Nevada (MRNV) were joined by Senator and Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at a rally in Las Vegas to launch their comprehensive housing justice campaign. Surrounded by over 500 Make the Road members and their allies, the campaign pledged to fight for expanded tenant protections and the decriminalization of homelessness.

Over the past year, MRNV has knocked on doors across Las Vegas to learn about the issues that matter to people who live there. As rents continue to rise, affordable housing was identified as a key issue community members worried about most. MRNV quickly moved into action, creating a committee on housing justice to end homelessness and the criminalization of homelessness in Nevada. The committee will advocate for rent control and tenant protections, work to reign in speculators and corporate landlords, and to deeply fund affordable and safe housing.

Since launching its Housing Justice Committee, MRNV and allies organized for and won eviction protections state-wide leading to a decrease in evictions by 7%. Further, when a historic African American community was going to be bulldozed for warehouses, MRNV members stood alongside the community, fought back, and won. When the Las Vegas City Council passed laws to criminalize homelessness, MRNV members and their allies have been out in the streets to demand #HomesNotHandcuffs.

After the rally, hundreds of Nevadans took to the streets to demand a #HometoThrive, #HomesNotHandcuffs, and the #FreedomtoRemain. As Diana Diaz, MRNV’s Housing Justice Leader who has experienced homelessness in Las Vegas said at the rally “We will continue to fight for our freedom to stay in our communities in Las Vegas.” MRNV launched their Housing Justice Campaign to demand tenant protections, rent control, and an end to homelessness in Las Vegas, and across the state of Nevada, and will keep organizing until this vision becomes our reality. If you are interested in getting involved, please reach out to Felipe Silva here.