AFSC staff, Housing Justice League members and People's Campaign supporters rally in Atlanta as part of the People's Assembly for Housing 'Our Homes Our Power' Global Days of Action Tim Franzen/AFSC
As the housing crisis deepens in cities around the world, organizers in Atlanta are rising to meet the moment. On Sunday, April 27, local housing justice organizations—including Housing Justice League (HJL), American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and The People's Campaign—announced a sweeping new affordable housing platform as part of the Global Housing Action Days, a coordinated international call to reclaim homes, resist evictions, and fight for housing as a human right.
The platform marks a major escalation in the fight for dignified, affordable, and climate-resilient housing in Atlanta—a city where soaring rents, corporate real estate speculation, and widespread displacement have become everyday realities.
At a press conference and rally at Rodney Cook Sr. Park, advocates presented their policy demands, which include:
- Redefining "affordable housing" to reflect what’s actually affordable for working people—specifically those making 30% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI).
- Establishing a transparent and publicly accessible Housing Trust Fund to direct resources to those most in need.
- Massively scaling up the creation of social housing—permanently affordable, community-controlled homes.
- Mandating protections in all new developments, including rent control measures, community benefit agreements, and an end to source-of-income discrimination.
- Implementing city-wide inclusionary zoning to guarantee affordable units in every neighborhood.
- Fully enforcing the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, to dismantle systemic housing discrimination.
- Creating a rental assistance fund to prevent evictions before they happen.
- Establishing an Office of the Tenant Advocate to defend renters' rights.
- Adopting a humane, housing-first approach to homelessness, ending the city’s policy of encampment sweeps.
"Our city’s housing crisis isn’t a natural disaster—it’s the result of deliberate policy choices," said organizers at the rally. "We are choosing to fight back with policies rooted in dignity, equity, and the belief that every person deserves a safe, stable place to call home."
Atlanta's participation in Global Housing Action Days links its local struggle to a worldwide movement. Across dozens of cities, housing justice organizers are demanding real solutions to the profit-driven forces fueling homelessness, eviction, and displacement.
In Atlanta, the need for change is urgent. Tens of thousands of residents face rising rents with stagnant wages. Black families—the historic heart of Atlanta—are being displaced at alarming rates. Public resources are increasingly funneled into policing and development projects that serve the wealthy, not those most in need.
This new platform reflects a different vision: one where public policy puts people over profits, housing is recognized as a human right, and communities are empowered to shape their own futures.
Organizers called on residents, city leaders, and allies across the world to stand together:
"Another Atlanta is possible—and it's up to us to build it."
Click here to sign and share the online petition to city leaders.
Learn more about the Atlanta Economic Justice Program.