For many of us, the shelter-in-place mandate is really just an inconvenience. We want to be out doing something fun rather than being cooped up indoors all day. But others, like the homeless, don't have places where they can shelter, putting them at high risk for infection. Those living in unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions, like residents of social housing, are at further risk of disease by staying at home.
Having safe housing with reliable utilities is a privilege, but it shouldn't be. Covid-19 is revealing just how inequitable our housing system is. For this story for Shelterforce, I spoke to housing justice activists who are determined to leverage coronavirus into a law that would provide safe housing for everyone, an action they call a "Homes For All Guarantee." Thank you so much to the organizers I spoke with who are working on this important mission.
