Harlem Tenants Council

From Social Justice Wiki

Photo Credit: Dominique Nabokov

Harlem Tenants Council, Inc., co-founded and directed by Nellie Hester Bailey, is a social justice organization created "to provide relief for the poor and to combat community deterioration as a result of the accelerated pace of gentrification in Harlem." HTC is dedicated to quality housing as a basic right of every person. The mission of the organization is to enhance the capacity of tenants in the Harlem community to advocate for themselves and to protect tenants' rights; to provide acces to legal services and organizing assistance to improve living conditions and to prevent landlord abuse; to counter the displacement of low income tenants caused by neighborhood gentrification; to provide organizing, support services and technical support to preserve and strengthen low income housing in the public and private sectors; and to provide a vehicle through which tenants and residents can have input into public policy and greater control over community resources in order to address common community concerns.

Harlem Tenants Council's Vision: To build a broad-based bottom up tenants' movement that can influence policies and programs that impact low-income residents and small neighborhood businesses. HTC organizaes educational forums, provides free legal counseling, builds ties with Harlem churches and businesses and organizes demonstrations to draw attention to the housing crisis that New York faces. HTC's members are tenants living in public housing, city and privately owned properties and small business owners.