When I graduate, I plan on coming back to the Coachella Valley to call it my home once again. However, the lack of affordable housing opportunities and other essential programs not only make it more difficult to return to the community where I grew up but impact many others in need of stable housing.
I’ve joined a group of Eastern Coachella Valley residents to organize and urge Riverside County to develop a housing plan that ensures the housing needs of every community are met. This can be done by acknowledging the scope of the housing crisis and committing to specific steps that directly address these challenges.
The county’s Housing Element is a critical opportunity to expand housing options and protections that help residents continue to live in the communities they love. This plan is the county’s blueprint to meet housing needs and impacts housing and other forms of development countywide — especially in unincorporated communities like Oasis, Mecca, Thermal and North Shore.
Our communities deserve a Housing Element that reflects our shared commitment to the well-being and prosperity of every resident — where affordable, dignified housing is not a luxury, but a fundamental right. As a community, we urge the county to revise its draft plan to include more actionable measures of success and specific revitalization strategies tailored to each community.