Back Home

            Questionnaire for Housing Rights Advocates                  

Dear Colleague,  

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the Welcome Home Project.  My partner Gabe Treves and I formed WHP after working at Housing Rights, Inc., a fair housing organization located in Berkeley . My position as Outreach and Education Coordinator brought me in contact with many community based organizations throughout Alameda and Contra Costa County, and without fail, those working with immigrants, particularly undocumented immigrants, stated that the most common problem their constituency faced as renters was discrimination based on immigration status.  This discrimination took a number of forms; one in particular was fear of retaliation.  Another was access to rental housing.

We are asking you to take some time and fill out this survey.  I have included a copy of our mission statement for you to read, and hope that it gives a more complete picture of what we plan to do.  This survey will inform our future work and provide us with some data on the scope of the problem.  If you have ever felt frustrated by the lack of protections for immigrant renters, please take the time to help us, help the community.  Thank you.

Sincerely,  

Jennifer Susskind  

Project Director

The Welcome Home Project

 

Survey for Housing Rights Advocates Regarding Immigrant Renters

General Information:

Name of Organization_____________________________________________________

Your name______________________________________________________________

Phone number_________________________

Email address__________________________

Service Area:

To the best of your knowledge what are the demographics of your service area? (Economic, ethnicity/race, population of immigrants)

 

   

What percent of those you serve are immigrants? If known, what percent (estimate) of the population you serve are undocumented immigrants?

   

 

Part I:  Issues faced by Immigrant Renters in your Jurisdiction

What specific housing problems do immigrant renters face in your community?

 

 

 

How widespread are these problems?

 

   

How are these problems exacerbated by their documentation status?

 

 

 

Do you know of any instances where the landlord / manager threatened to report a tenant to an immigration official?  How often have these threats actually materialized?

 

 

 

Do you have direct knowledge of someone being denied housing based on perceived, undocumented legal status although they were, in fact, legally entitled to be in this country? (For example: people in the process of receiving legal immigration status, students without social security cards, asylum seekers, etc.)

 

           

 

What are some of the justifications landlords employ to discriminate against immigrants in general and undocumented immigrants specifically?

 

 

   

What are some of the social, economic, and/or public health problems the entire community faces due to housing discrimination against immigrants in general and undocumented immigrants specifically?

 

   

 

What types of legal options/services are available for immigrant renters in your area? What types of legal options/services are available for undocumented immigrant renters? How effectively are they used?  What are some of the barriers to their use?

 

 

   

Part II

What are the most important elements of the Welcome Home Project’s mission statement for your constituents? (See attachments)

 

   

What other activities can the Welcome Home Project perform that are not described in the mission statement?

 

   

What forms of education materials / presentations could the Welcome Home Project offer to your community members?

 

   

Part III

Are you presently pursuing, or have you in the past pursued, any of the same objectives as the Welcome Home Project?

- Which strategies proved successful?   -Which strategies did not?

 

 

What activities do we share in common that we can work together on?

 

 

 

Who else should we contact that would be interested to learn about the Welcome Home Project?

 

   

What role would you like to play in the pursuit the Welcome Home Project’s mission?

q       Mailing list / List serve

q       Phone / conference calls

q       Advisory committee

q       Legal assistance

q       Legislative assistance

q       Technical assistance

q       Economic assistance

q       Other