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Bread for the City is just making ALL the big changes right now. We’re officially an FQHC; we just launched our new strategic plan; and for the first time ever, we have hired an Advocacy Director!

This new role is a big step for Bread for the City. While we’ve had a manager of advocacy and community engagement in the past, this position has never before been at the director level. This means that we have elevated advocacy to be a core piece of our holistic service model—like our food program, medical clinic, or legal and social services programs.

After so many years of listing “justice” as one of our fundamental values, why are we doing this now? It’s simple: the District has lost over half of its affordable housing in the past 10 years. Bread for the City’s clients are being priced out of the city they call home – away from resources like jobs, social services, public transportation, and the leisure and cultural activities that make DC such an amazing place to live. We believe that this is unacceptable; we believe that this is based, in part, in racist housing and economic policies; and most importantly, we believe we can do something about it.

Enter Aja Taylor! Aja is an award-winning community organizer previously based in our Legal Clinic. She will be leading a team of community organizers and client leaders at Bread for the City and beyond, as we work to staunch the bleed of affordable housing, and ensure that all DC residents can afford to live and work in the city they call home. In coalition with cross-sector partners, other tenant organizers and others, Aja’s charge is to work toward building the power needed to create the political will to preserve and create 22,000 units of affordable housing.

Join us in congratulating Aja on her new role, and please join with us as we continue the fight for housing rights in the District. Wanna get started? Email Aja at ATaylor@BreadfortheCity.org.