November 2023 Newsletter

There are just 2 days left to apply for our Campaign Leadership Academy, which is open to anyone across LA County who wants to learn about working on a campaign or running for office. We’re also raising our voices about the importance of unarmed crisis response resources in the City of LA – check out our recent virtual teach-in to learn more or send a one-click email to your City Councilmember. Join us Thursday evening in Pomona for our SGV Housing Happy Hour! And later this month, we’re talking housing justice on Zoom with allies from across LA County – join us 11/30.

Apply now: Campaign Leadership Academy!

We’re so excited to launch our Progressive Campaign Leadership Academy, a free training program we're leading with the support of LA Forward board member and former LA City Council candidate Dr. Loraine Lundquist. The program is open to applicants from across LA County – whether you want to work on a campaign or run for office someday. Now is your chance to get irreplaceable training and hands-on experience from many of LA's best progressive campaign leaders. The program will run from December 2, 2023 to April 6, 2024. Apply now by November 17!

Take action for unarmed crisis response in LA:

Unarmed crisis response helps make LA safer by deploying appropriate alternative services, including trained mental health workers, to respond to Angelenos experiencing mental health emergencies or other crises – instead of sending armed police officers who often aren’t trained for these needs and can make the situation worse. We've launched an advocacy campaign to uplift four best practices that would make unarmed crisis responders easy to access for Angelenos AND not make armed police the default response to all calls for help! These best practices can be proposed by our city council members, and we can make sure they know the public wants this. Watch our virtual teach-in now and make your voice heard by sending a one-click email to your city councilmember!    

Upcoming events:

SGV Housing Happy Hour - Don’t miss us in Pomona this Thursday, 11/16 from 6-8 p.m. at Innovation Brew Works for our second SGV Housing Happy Hour. Hang out with our team and meet other housing advocates from the San Gabriel Valley at a brewery located on the campus of Cal State Poly Pomona. RSVP here to join us – we can’t wait to see you!

Housing Justice in the SGV: Looking Back, Looking Forward - There are over 30 cities in the SGV, and housing justice work in the region saw key wins and struggles in 2023! We know that next year is an important time for upcoming efforts and elections — from the City Council-level to Sacramento. Join us online on 11/30 for a debrief and strategy session on continuing to advance housing justice in the San Gabriel Valley and all across LA County in 2024. This session is available to advocates countywide – we’ll focus the conversation on the SGV for the first hour from 7-8 pm and then talk about LA County initiatives from 8-9 pm. Sign up now!    

Recent wins:

Congrats to tenants in South Pasadena and Claremont for elevating housing justice work in the SGV! Both cities successfully have limited (or eliminated!) "renovations" as just cause for eviction. In particular, South Pasadena Tenants Union and Claremont Tenants United have led these fights, with LA Forward in support. Congrats again!

Thanks for reading,
The LA Forward team


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