Many Massachusetts residents are losing their homes — even when they have the right to stay in them.
The HOPE Initiative is designed to fill the housing justice gap by empowering more people to advocate for tenants' rights.
The HOPE Initiative is just one piece of a larger effort to help everyone in Massachusetts find — and keep — a home.
Call for action from our state government to make the HOPE Initiative possible. Your voice matters.
An all-too-common story:
Jennifer Sullivan has been told she must leave her home after the latest round of paperwork she submitted to her local housing authority was rejected. Without clear answers, she has turned to Google and friends in similar situations to ask about how to prepare for her upcoming hearing. Although she has little free time between her job and time spent caring for a partner with disabilities, she has done her best to research her tenant rights and help her friends as they face evictions of their own. Concerned about the latest ‘notice to quit’ she had received, she attended a City Life / Vida Urbana training in Jamaica Plain to learn about her tenant rights. When a law student leads a “Know Your Rights” training, she is full of questions and hungry for knowledge.*
Housing is a social determinant of health. As one community organizer at City Life / Vida Urbana, who has faced eviction herself, stated, housing is deeply tied to dignity and respect. She compared the experience of being evicted and forced from home to how she felt after being forcibly displaced from her native country as a youth.
When someone goes to the emergency room, they don’t just get treated by doctors. Other trained professionals — nurses, physician assistants, and paramedics — help to ensure quick, lifesaving access to emergency medicine.
Similarly, some of the urgent challenges faced by people who experience housing insecurity could be addressed by trained non-lawyers. This would increase access to legal services for tenants and free up attorneys to focus on complex cases. Other states have done this through successful pilot programs. Arizona enables non-lawyers to provide free, limited legal services in housing cases with attorney supervision. Utah is piloting a similar program to allow community-based organizations to provide free, limited-scope legal advice on housing issues. We propose that Massachusetts follow in their footsteps.
* This anecdote is compiled from real experiences of Boston area residents who attended a City Life / Vida Urbana community event in October 2025, using fictional names.