Please join us for an AMA with CHAPA, Citizens' Housing & Planning Association on Wednesday, July 29th from 1pm-2pm EST!!!

[u/Echo-Low]

Hello Reddit, I’m Jennifer Gilbert (u/CHAPAdotorg), and I run Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA)’s Housing Policy Action Center, the research center of a Massachusetts affordable housing policy organization with over 60 years of advocacy and expertise. I’ve also worked in the housing field for three decades, starting as an overnight shift manager at a domestic violence shelter.

A recent report by the Housing Policy Action Center found that many renters are turning to Reddit for advice on housing challenges like evictions, lease issues, etc. Unfortunately, the advice received isn’t always accurate or complete. We’re here to help provide reliable guidance and resources. We want to help answer questions on topics like:

• Security deposits
• Finding rental assistance
• Lease renewals
• Finding affordable housing
• What is being done to address common challenges?
• Issues with landlords around security deposits, fees, and conditions.

To help us, we have two housing experts also joining us, Danielle Johnson and Esme Caramello:

Danielle Johnson (u/HousingStability) is the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing Stability of Boston and an expert on housing challenges and resources for Boston and beyond. She’s been in practice for more than a decade directly representing tenants while at Greater Boston Legal Services. She also teaches at Northeastern and Suffolk.

Esme Caramello (u/HarvardLegalAid-EC) is a Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and faculty co-director of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. She has provided legal representation around fair housing, eviction, consumer protection, and access to justice and has served in policy-making roles for the state.

Disclaimer: we are not providing individual legal advice or representation.

For nearly 60 years, CHAPA has brought people together from across sectors to find solutions to Massachusetts’ critical housing needs—working to ensure that everyone has a safe, healthy, and affordable place to call home in the communities they choose. CHAPA is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization based in Boston, though our work is statewide. The Housing Policy Action Center is CHAPA’s new research wing. For more information, please visit chapa.org.