Abbreviation | SAJE |
---|---|
Formation | 1996 |
Founder | Gilda Haas |
Purpose | "Our mission is to change public and corporate policy in a manner that provides concrete economic benefits to working class people, increases the economic rights of working class people, and builds leadership through a movement for economic justice; and in the process creating sustainable models of economic democracy." |
Location |
|
Executive Director | Cynthia Strathmann PhD |
Website | www.saje.net |
Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE) is a non-profit economic justice organization that advocates for tenant rights, healthy housing, and equitable development. [1] It was founded in 1996 by Gilda Haas and Kent Wong and is currently led by Executive Director Cynthia Strathmann PhD. [2] [3] [4] [5] SAJE organizes working class communities in South Central Los Angeles through leadership development programs, tenant rights clinics, and job readiness training. [6]
As a founding convening organization of the United Neighbors in Defense Against Displacement Coalition (UNIDAD)--formerly known as the Coalition for a Responsible USC and the Figueroa Corridor Coalition for Economic Justice--SAJE has fought for the adoption community benefits agreements (CBA) that ensure new developments benefit existing working-class residents in impacted neighborhoods. [7] [8] These agreements have included provisions for affordable housing funding, local targeted hiring, low-income health clinics, and set asides for low and extremely-low income housing. [9] [8]
A Community Benefits Agreement ("CBA") in the United States is a contract signed by community groups and a real estate developer that requires the developer to provide specific amenities and/or mitigations to the local community or neighborhood. In exchange, the community groups agree to publicly support the project, or at least not oppose it. Often, negotiating a CBA relies heavily upon the formation of a multi-issue, broad based community coalition including community, environmental, faith-based and labor organizations.
Notable projects with CBAs involving SAJE:
Staples Center, officially stylized as STAPLES Center, is a multi-purpose arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999.
Geoffrey Harrison Palmer is an American real estate developer and Republican donor.
The University of Southern California is a private research university in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1880, it is the oldest private research university in California. For the 2018–19 academic year, there were 20,000 students enrolled in four-year undergraduate programs. USC also has 27,500 graduate and professional students in a number of different programs, including business, law, engineering, social work, occupational therapy, pharmacy, and medicine. It is the largest private employer in the city of Los Angeles and generates $8 billion in economic impact on Los Angeles and California.
South Los Angeles is a region in southern Los Angeles County, California, and mostly lies within the city limits of Los Angeles, just south of downtown.
Washington Mutual, Inc—abbreviated to WaMu—was a savings bank holding company and the former owner of WaMu Bank; America's largest savings and loan association until its collapse in 2008.
Pacific Park is a mixed-use commercial and residential development project that will consist of 17 high-rise buildings, under construction in Prospect Heights, adjacent to Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene in Brooklyn, New York City. The project overlaps part of the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area, but also extends toward the adjacent brownstone neighborhood. Of the 22-acre (8.9 ha) project, 8.4 acres (3.4 ha) is located over a Long Island Rail Road train yard. A major component of the project is the Barclays Center sports arena, which opened on September 21, 2012. Formerly named Atlantic Yards, the developer renamed the project in August 2014 as part of a rebranding.
Malik Rahim is an American housing and prison activist based since the late 1990s in the New Orleans area of Louisiana, where he grew up. In 2005 Rahim gained national publicity as a community organizer in New Orleans in 2005 to combat the widespread destruction in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; there he co-founded the Common Ground Collective.
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the public hospitals and clinics in Los Angeles County, and is United States' second largest municipal health system, after NYC Health + Hospitals.
Homelessness in Australia is a social issue concerning the number of people in Australia that are considered to be homeless. There are no internationally agreed upon definitions of homelessness, making it difficult to compare levels of homelessness across countries. A majority of people experiencing homelessness long-term in Australia are found in the large cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. It is estimated that on any given night approximately 105,000 people will be homeless and many more are living in insecure housing, "one step away from being homeless". A person who does not obtain any shelter is often described as sleeping 'rough'.
Housing First is a relatively recent innovation in human service programs and social policy regarding treatment of people who are homeless and is an alternative to a system of emergency shelter/transitional housing progressions. Rather than moving homeless individuals through different "levels" of housing, whereby each level moves them closer to "independent housing", Housing First moves the homeless individual or household immediately from the streets or homeless shelters into their own accommodation.
The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium is a national service, advocacy and education organization for two non-profit multi-issue grassroots local community centers: the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center in Chicago and the Korean Resource Center in Los Angeles. NAKASEC is based in Los Angeles and a D.C. office opened in late 2008.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles also known, as CHIRLA is a Los Angeles county-based organization focusing on immigrant rights. While the organization did evolve from a local level, it is now recognized at a national level. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles organizes and serves individuals, institutions and coalitions to build power, transform public opinion, and change policies to achieve full human, civil and labor rights. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles also has aided in passing new laws and policies to benefit the immigrant community regardless of documented status.
APLA Health is non-profit organization, whose mission is "to achieve health care equity and promote well-being for the LGBT and other underserved communities and people living with and affected by HIV."
The Coalition for Economic Survival, or CES is a grassroots, non-profit community organization. CES works in the greater Los Angeles area in working to influence policy makers to improve the lives of low and moderate income people.
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) is a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, Ill., that works with diverse neighborhoods and community groups to battle discrimination, antisemitism, poverty and other forms of oppression. Judy Levey is the current executive director.
The Center for Regional Change is a university-affiliated and non-partisan research center within the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The center also hosts a Distinguished Lecture Series annually in which scholars and leaders in the field are invited to share their knowledge with the campus community.
Green affordable housing is reasonably priced housing that incorporates sustainable features. The phenomenon has become increasingly common in the United States with the adoption of state and local policies that favor or require green building practices for publicly owned or funded buildings. Potential benefits of green affordable housing include lower energy cost burden and improved health. One challenge to green affordable housing is the tendency to overlook long-term benefits in the face of higher upfront cost. The challenge for green housing advocates is to see to the life cycle cost of the building. Many affordable housing projects already find it a challenge to raise capital to finance basic affordable housing. Green affordable housing has taken form in traditionally wooden homes and most recently with 'upcycling' shipping containers.
John Emmeus Davis is a scholar, writer, teacher and community organizer who has advanced the understanding and development of community land trusts in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and Belgium.
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr. is an American politician currently serving in the California State Assembly. He is a Democrat representing the 59th Assembly District, which encompasses portions of South Los Angeles, the neighborhoods of Florence-Graham and Walnut Park, and a part of Huntington Park.
Homeless veterans are persons who have served in the armed forces who are homeless or living without access to secure and appropriate accommodation.
The NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is a labor agreement which reflects the results of collective bargaining negotiations between the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) and National Football League (NFL) team owners. The labor agreement classifies distribution of league revenues, sets health and safety standards and establishes benefits, including pensions and medical benefits, for all players in the NFL. The first collective bargaining agreement was reached in 1968 after player members of the NFLPA voted to go on strike to increase salaries, pensions and benefits for all players in the league. Later negotiations of the collective bargaining agreement called for injury grievances, a guaranteed percentage of revenues for players, an expansion of free agency and other issues impacting the business of the NFL. The NFLPA and team owners have negotiated seven different agreements since 1968.
The Thai Community Development Center is a nonprofit NGO in Los Angeles, California that assists Thai and other immigrants.
Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles(CCSCLA) is a non-profit 501(c)3 community-based organization whose mission is to work for social justice and economic and environmental change within the South Central community. CCSCLA works to involve community members in identifying social, economic, and environmental areas of concern to them, and give them the tools necessary to engage with institutions, such as industries or political leaders, to enact change.