March set to protest county housing crisis

The coalition that held the recent overflow forum on Sonoma Valley’s housing crisis will join a countywide march for “The Right to a Roof,” that will be held Wednesday, July 29, in Santa Rosa.|

The coalition that held the recent overflow forum on Sonoma Valley’s housing crisis will join a countywide march for “The Right to a Roof,” that will be held Wednesday, July 29, in Santa Rosa.

Under the banner of the North Bay Organizing Project, marchers will gather at the Roseland Plaza (the old Albertsons market) at 665 Sebastopol Road. Organizers have been issued a permit for the two-mile march to Santa Rosa City Hall, where residents of each of the county’s five supervisorial districts will address the marchers.

Currently, the Sonoma Valley group includes La Luz Center, El Verano School, and the Spiritual Action group of Sonoma United Methodist Church.

“We are reaching out to other churches and community groups to join us,” said Mario Castillo, El Verano School’s family-engagement coordinator. “We see the campaign for housing as an important part of building community.”

Christine Missmer, a member of the Methodist Church’s Spiritual Action group, said, “The rough time people have been having with housing has gone on long enough. One way or another, it touches almost everybody in the community, so we all have to work on getting it solved, Anglo and Latino alike.”

Juan Hernandez, executive director at La Luz, added, “The housing issue needs to be addressed now. This effort is to bring attention to this issue. I hope people come out in support.”

The coalition’s June 17 open forum at El Verano School was attended by more than 200 people who came up with a long list of grievances, potential actions and solutions. The march follows that and a series of widely attended city council meetings in Santa Rosa and Healdsburg, where dozens of renters reported big rent increases, at-will evictions, and substandard conditions and called on the councils to remedy the situation.

People wishing transportation to the march can call Mario Castillo at 935-6025. Vans will be leaving El Verano School at 4 p.m.

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