A group of more than 30 residents in a Missouri mobile home community banded together this week to stop their landlord from tossing them and some 70 other residents out in pursuit of a sale to build a jail on the land. The Jackson County Legislature approved a $1.7 million plan to allot each affected household in the Heart Mobile Village up to $10,000 toward housing expenses, ABC affiliate KMBC News reported. The plan also cancels rent for the residents from now through February 2022, when the county takes ownership of the 107 acres in question in a $7 million sale, The Kansas City Beacon reported.
Kansas City Tenants, a tenant rights organization, posted a thread on Twitter about the residents’ fight that is simply inspired. The organization started the thread with this tweet on Tuesday: “VICTORY: Yesterday the Heart Village residents organized, took over the Jackson County legislative meeting, and forced (a majority of) their demands to be met, including $10k minimum per household and rent cancellation now through February 2022. Thread on how they won:”
The residents’ journey may have ended at the Jackson County legislative meeting, where they demanded their voices be heard even when extra security was called in, but it their fight started weeks earlier. "The residents have been organizing since mid-July when, after months of confusion, they finally heard that their landlord was indeed selling the property to the County for their new jail. Residents developed demands and collected over 112 signatures," KC Tenants tweeted. "KC Tenants supported signature collection, canvassing the property multiple times. Allies called and emailed the County. Residents like Ro'Nisha, Urban, Samuel, and others told their stories to members of the media, adding a deep humanity to the struggle."
RoNisha Rogers told the Beacon she and her family were homeless before moving to Heart Mobile Village and the land sale left her and her, her husband, and their seven children scrambling to find new shelter by February. “Most places don’t really want to bring in seven kids,” Rogers said. “They just don’t rent to people who have big families. On top of that, we’re on a fixed income here, so we don’t have a lot of options.”
Samuel Pinedo, another resident of the community, told the Beacon he's been living with his wife and three sons in their double-wide trailer since 2009 and if he can't move the trailer he'll lose the roughly $25,000 he put into his home and be forced to rent again. “In the nights, we can’t sleep,” Pinedo said. “I mean, we sleep four hours, and we wake up and then start thinking about it: What are we going to do? And what is going to happen? I mean, we don’t know.”
As the journey unfolded over months, it hasn't always been made clear to residents that the land was in fact for sale. In one July letter the Beacon obtained, property management told residents the property wasn’t under a sales contract, and another dated July 12 confirmed the sale. Management claimed in the letter that officials had initially “intended to keep the property and grow it.”
”Last Tuesday, the property sale was final,” KC Tenants tweeted. “The County was set to hear a resolution in their weekly session regarding the relocation plan. Of course, the residents were not informed of the meeting. They haven't heard from the County since one terrible town hall in early July.” So when they learned of another meeting on Monday, KC Tenants helped organize more than 40 residents to attend. When they did, "immediately the energy of the room shifted," the tenant group said. “The County tried to play like they'd engaged the residents; the residents immediately called BS.”
At one point in the meeting, Jackson County Chair Dan Tarwater refused to let the residents speak, “saying they could do a separate public hearing (the residents have been asking for this for weeks, with no response),” KC Tenants tweeted. “Urban Schaefer and other residents wouldn't take no, disrupted the mtg.”
"We're here now," they reportedly chanted as deputies escorted people out of the room.
“Legislators Jalen Anderson, Crystal Williams, Ron Finley, and Tony Miller all spoke up for the residents, ultimately negotiating an amendment to the proposed resolution,” KC Tenants tweeted. The organization added:
”After many disruptions and chants, the Chair finally recognized a handful of residents to testify to the legislators. Then the amended resolution passed. It is extremely important to note that NONE of this would have happened if residents hadn't shown up and taken risks.”
Residents chanted, “Homes, not jails!” after the meeting.
Kansas City Tenants, a tenant rights organization, posted a thread on Twitter about the residents’ fight that is simply inspired. The organization started the thread with this tweet on Tuesday: “VICTORY: Yesterday the Heart Village residents organized, took over the Jackson County legislative meeting, and forced (a majority of) their demands to be met, including $10k minimum per household and rent cancellation now through February 2022. Thread on how they won:”
The residents’ journey may have ended at the Jackson County legislative meeting, where they demanded their voices be heard even when extra security was called in, but it their fight started weeks earlier. "The residents have been organizing since mid-July when, after months of confusion, they finally heard that their landlord was indeed selling the property to the County for their new jail. Residents developed demands and collected over 112 signatures," KC Tenants tweeted. "KC Tenants supported signature collection, canvassing the property multiple times. Allies called and emailed the County. Residents like Ro'Nisha, Urban, Samuel, and others told their stories to members of the media, adding a deep humanity to the struggle."
RoNisha Rogers told the Beacon she and her family were homeless before moving to Heart Mobile Village and the land sale left her and her, her husband, and their seven children scrambling to find new shelter by February. “Most places don’t really want to bring in seven kids,” Rogers said. “They just don’t rent to people who have big families. On top of that, we’re on a fixed income here, so we don’t have a lot of options.”
Samuel Pinedo, another resident of the community, told the Beacon he's been living with his wife and three sons in their double-wide trailer since 2009 and if he can't move the trailer he'll lose the roughly $25,000 he put into his home and be forced to rent again. “In the nights, we can’t sleep,” Pinedo said. “I mean, we sleep four hours, and we wake up and then start thinking about it: What are we going to do? And what is going to happen? I mean, we don’t know.”
As the journey unfolded over months, it hasn't always been made clear to residents that the land was in fact for sale. In one July letter the Beacon obtained, property management told residents the property wasn’t under a sales contract, and another dated July 12 confirmed the sale. Management claimed in the letter that officials had initially “intended to keep the property and grow it.”
”Last Tuesday, the property sale was final,” KC Tenants tweeted. “The County was set to hear a resolution in their weekly session regarding the relocation plan. Of course, the residents were not informed of the meeting. They haven't heard from the County since one terrible town hall in early July.” So when they learned of another meeting on Monday, KC Tenants helped organize more than 40 residents to attend. When they did, "immediately the energy of the room shifted," the tenant group said. “The County tried to play like they'd engaged the residents; the residents immediately called BS.”
At one point in the meeting, Jackson County Chair Dan Tarwater refused to let the residents speak, “saying they could do a separate public hearing (the residents have been asking for this for weeks, with no response),” KC Tenants tweeted. “Urban Schaefer and other residents wouldn't take no, disrupted the mtg.”
"We're here now," they reportedly chanted as deputies escorted people out of the room.
“Legislators Jalen Anderson, Crystal Williams, Ron Finley, and Tony Miller all spoke up for the residents, ultimately negotiating an amendment to the proposed resolution,” KC Tenants tweeted. The organization added:
”After many disruptions and chants, the Chair finally recognized a handful of residents to testify to the legislators. Then the amended resolution passed. It is extremely important to note that NONE of this would have happened if residents hadn't shown up and taken risks.”
Residents chanted, “Homes, not jails!” after the meeting.