WADE RATHKE is the founder of ACORN, Chief Organizer at ACORN International, and Author of "Nuts & Bolts", "Citizen Wealth", "Global Grassroots", and "The Battle for the 9th Ward".
Sofia It hasn’t been easy for the Organizers’ Forum to get our arms around housing issues in Sofia or Bucharest. People agree that rents are going up, but that’s about all. The numbers say that the percentage of homeowners vastly outnumbers tenants. In Romania, there is claim of over 90% homeownership. In Bulgaria, …
Pearl River There can’t be any doubt to most public and elected officials that affordable housing is almost a contradiction in terms. If they do have any doubt, they can get straight by talking to almost any family renting or even trying to buy in most cities these days. Almost in cities everywhere, if …
Pearl River Over the last couple of years in talking to ACORN organizers in the UK and Europe, I’ve often heard tidbits about tenants organizing with some strength and success in Barcelona, Spain. In Brussels last month, I barely missed meeting one of the leaders and organizers of the tenants’ union there, when it …