Massachusetts and our nation are facing an extreme housing crisis. Low-income people, like us, the leaders of the Mass Union of Public Housing Tenants, are the most impacted by this crisis. Mass Union’s leaders are fortunate to live in public housing, which provides truly affordable rents to those who need it most. However, public housing is in disrepair and needs to be fixed – and expanded. Thousands of people are on the waiting list for public housing. Each one of them deserves a roof over their head and a dignified life for themselves and their children.
Less than 10% of tenants in public housing are represented by a local union and conditions in public housing suffer as a result. Tenants in public housing want to organize, and we can help. The demand for Mass Union’s support is bottomless! To keep up, this fall Mass Union hired two new full-time bilingual staff and expanded our team of part-time organizers in the field. We are building a team with the commitment and skill to truly build the power and voice of multiracial, low-income residents of public housing.
Public housing provides an oasis of affordability for low-income people and must be preserved and even expanded. Mass Union is led by and for tenants – we are the best people to lead this fight. Below please see some of our 2025 accomplishments. We hope you will consider a donation to us as part of your year-end giving. Thank you!
Mass Union 2025 Highlights
Our Communities
Mass Union worked with over 75 Local Tenant Organizations in 2025 from all across the Commonwealth. We helped groups run their Board Elections, strengthen their internal operations, and win changes that improve quality of life. For example, we helped residents in Gloucester fight a rat infestation in their building, tenants in Topsfield win funding for building infrastructure, and tenants in Western Mass fight corruption at their Housing Authority. We help tenants have a voice in redevelopment projects and hiring decisions; we help them fight for correct rent calculations in order to prevent evictions, and we help them push for better overall management. Tenants deserve to be treated well, and we are here to help make that happen. As tenant leader Sue Cruz from Fall River reminds us, “Low-income does not mean low life.”
Systemic Change
Public Housing needs to be fixed. Through our union, tenants are building “Spaghetti Power” to work with policymakers to do just that. As our tenant leaders like to say, “One strand of spaghetti can be broken with one finger. But bring a whole bunch together, and it’s impossible to break!” Together, we are fighting for more funding for public housing at the state and federal levels, including a plan to address the huge backlog of capital needs that tenants live with every day. In 2025 we held our second annual Public Housing Day at the Massachusetts statehouse, raising our voices for change. Mass Union also sits on the Massachusetts Commission to preserve and expand Extremely Low-Income Housing and we were honored to be featured at the launch of the Congressional Public Housing Caucus in Brockton in June, which included Congress Members Ayanna Pressley and Stephen Lynch.
Leadership Development
Leadership development is the heart of Mass Union’s work. We pride ourselves on offering transformative trainings and networking opportunities that help tenants grow as people, as leaders, and as advocates. In 2025 we offered our best-ever Convention, with a record 2.5 days of programming and 125 tenant attendees. We offer frequent online “Roundtables” for tenants to connect, including the “Mesa Redonda,” a networking opportunity for Spanish speakers. In 2025 we also offered six webinars and two multi-part online training series, as well as a day of in-person training focused on banking, budgeting and fundraising practices for Local Tenant Organizations. Through our partnerships with Legal Aid and the Access to Counsel program, we also held “Know Your Rights” trainings in communities across the state.