In the face of a looming $400 rent increase, the four remaining households of the Ash Street Tenants Association are taking direct action to stand up for themselves — and they need your help.

In order to have the time and resources needed to find housing for their families, they have pledged to remain in their units and withhold their rent. The tenants will use their withheld rent to transition into adequate replacement housing as soon as possible.

Moving is a significant expense, and for low-income families living a sick day away from financial crisis, a 90-day notice does little to help tenants amass the up-front funds needed to move: application fees, security deposits, first & last, and other expenses needed to find, secure, and move their families into new housing in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis. Being priced out of low-quality, under-maintained housing on a block with a crime rate 15 times higher than the average for Portland makes the prospect of finding housing they can afford all the more daunting.  

But these tenants are taking a risk, paving the trail while walking it, and facing possible significant legal challenges and other costly consequences as a result. Please show your support for these tenants, and for the brave and bold action they are taking. Please donate to their strike fund, and together we can hold landlords accountable for the impacts of displacement.  

100% of these funds will go to the tenants as costs arise, in a transparent and accountable way. Surplus funds will be reserved for future rent strikes and to offset other financial costs borne by tenants taking direct action within a tenants association.