Eden Gibson still remembers the day she found squirrels running around her apartment.
“I was scared because I have a child at home, and she was scared,” said Gibson, a longtime resident of North Philadelphia. “I was talking to my landlord, and she heard me screaming and started laughing.”
Gisbon has been a renter in North Philadelphia since 2018. Even from the day she moved in, Gibson has dealt with continuous issues, all of which she says stem from negligence by her landlord. In the past year, she says that her kitchen and bathroom floors caved in, and there were sewage problems that led to unpleasant smells. Worst of all, she says, the squirrels are still eating away at the apartment she calls home.
Today, Gibson and other Philadelphia tenants with similar stories will get the chance to share their experiences with the city council in a hearing for Safe and Healthy Homes– a legislative package proposed by Council member Nicolas O’Rourke, created together with OnePA Renters United, a tenants’ rights organization.
Vice President of OnePA, Paulette Whitfield, says that the bill introduces protections that could be a game-changer for vulnerable tenants, and brings the city one step closer to treating housing as a human right. She has seen many landlords who prioritize their own profits over the status of their units.
“Some people are living in these conditions, but they won’t say anything because if they say something, they can get put out. and they don’t have any other choice because to stay there,” She says, “I think that’s very bad.”
The legislative package works to reform and increase rights for renters and ensure that landlords are held accountable. It’s broken down into three main pillars:
- Right to Repairs: providing mandatory inspections of rental units to identify violations before they become emergencies for the tenants.
- Right to Safety: prevents landlords from retaliating against tenants who report code violations or attempt to unionize.
- Right to Relocation: authorizes the creation of a fund to provide aid to tenants who are forced to vacate their homes due to a cease operations order or because the unit was deemed unsafe by inspectors.
The Right to Relocation has already been passed and authorized through a previous hearing last year. Today’s hearing is the group’s chance to pass further protections
This is something Nydea Graves, the Movement Politics Director at OnePA, has said they have been working towards.
“This has been the last five or six years in the making,” said Graves. “People have been speaking for eight years about the conditions of their housing.”
For Gibson, the journey to this moment is personal.
She remembers her frustration when continual complaints still resulted in a lack of action. Despite the initial hesitation to speak up, she says she has come to recognize the necessity of sharing her story as a member of Renters United.
“We decided as a group that we should fight for these bills because we’re tired of dealing with these slumlords,” said Gibson. “And it’s enough is enough because the city is not going to do anything about itself. You need people to speak up in order for it to happen.”
Although she was initially uncomfortable speaking publicly, Gibson said sharing her story has already led to some changes. If the Safe and Healthy Homes legislation passes, she said it could significantly affect renters across the city facing similar conditions.
“Now they’re doing repairs,” said Gibson. “If I call them up, it may take them a week, but they’re doing them, and they’re just patching pieces up to secure it. But it’s not really secure.”
Approaching the hearing, organizers and community members say that there is a sense of hope and nervousness in the air. If the bill passes through the Housing Committee, it will be recommended to the Committee of the Whole after the hearing.
“We spoke to everyone on the Housing Committee, and it seems like they’re going to recommend that these bills go to the Committee of the Whole after the hearing,” said Graves. “There are plenty of lobbies that represent opposite interests. And they donate to campaigns. And so the question is, will the power of the people outweigh the power of politicking?”
While the outcome of the hearing remains uncertain, Gibson said she is encouraged by how far the bill has advanced and believes her advocacy serves a broader purpose: supporting those who feel unable to speak up.
“It gives me the drive because I love to hear what people are going through,” said Gibson. “I can put my vision in perspective and help out.”
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