The idea to do a presentation about renters' rights to a local high school began last semester. Tara and Kim were both doing internships with teenagers and we felt that there was a need to inform high school students about their renters' rights and how to get affordable housing. During many of the staff meetings that Tara had attended, it became apparent to her that housing was a problem for teenagers. Many of the social workers in these meetings talked about the difficulties of finding housing for teens in the surrounding areas. 

When first discussing the idea of doing this Kim and Tara struggled with how to present the information in a professional manner. We decided to do the research first, to find out the actual need of housing in these areas. What we found out through talking to teens, and raising the question with them, was that they were very interested in discussing the issue. What we found out was that there is a need to find adequate housing for teens. 

Alexandra joined the group at the beginning of this semester. She became interested in doing the presentations after having a number of her own housing issues. She felt that it would be helpful for teenagers to know their rights so that they could avoid problems that she herself was facing. Alexandra played a vital role in wrapping our group up. With her fresh ideas on how to implement the presentation, the project started to pick up momentum. 

Statement of Need

We believe the lack of knowledge about renters' rights to be a problem because so many teenagers will be out on their own after they graduate high school with absolutely no idea about how to get housing. Low-income housing in the surrounding areas is huge; doing some research on our own, we realized that one half of the apartments are low-income. We felt that it was necessary to educate young teens that are renting for the first time. We did not want to see any of them get rushed into signing a faulty lease. In an article by Robert Stout (1998), titled Room at the Inn?, he states that "in California, 80% of young adults do not make enough money to rent an individual house or apartment" (p. 31). By teaching the high school seniors how difficult and expensive housing is, and by providing them with a list of low-income apartment complexes, they may be able to start looking at all their options now and plan ahead before they are out on the streets.

Description of the Intervention

For our community project we provided a presentation at a continuation high school in the local area. We talked to a senior class about renters' rights and how to get applicable housing. Also, in our presentations, we distributed an easy to follow brochure to the students that told them exactly what steps they need to take in order to get housing. The brochure informed the students exactly what they need to know before renting. This included, being financially prepared, be prepared to have a credit check, and knowing their rights, and a list of low-income apartment complexes in the Butte County area. We felt that this would cut down some time in searching for an apartment. 

Our goal was to provide students with as much information as possible. We wanted to get up in front of the students and present a solid presentation, where the students actually walked away feeling informed. We felt confident in the research that we had done and were excited to give our presentation.

Evaluation of the Intervention

The presentation went well, we were prepared, and we executed the information professionally. We divided up the information three ways and we each took a turn at presenting. We feel that the students responded well to the information. The class took part in the presentation, they asked questions and provided personal examples of experiences that they have had. The presentation lasted about twenty-five minutes, which was a perfect amount of time. We stayed on target and the class never seemed to be bored. 

The teacher was pleased with the information that we presented to the class. She even asked if we could come back and give another presentation or if any other college students would be willing to come and give more presentations. 

Reflections on the Project

If we had more time we would have wanted to spend time looking at applications and the differences between them. Also we would have the presentation set up more like a workshop, where we split up in-groups and would go over the applications and section 8 housing forms. We worked very well as team and all members of the group as well as the class noticed it. 

References

Department of Fair Employment and Housing. (1984). Renters' Rights. http://tenant.net/Other_Areas/Calif/misc/Tenant.html

Kaufman, Tracy L. (Nov/Dec 1997). Out of Reach: The unaffordability for rental housing. Journal of Housing and Community Development, 54. 25-30.

Martineau, Pamela (Sept/Oct 1998). Resisting low-income housing Journal of Housing and Community Development, 55. 8-10

Stout, Robert Joe (1998). Room at the Inn? Commonwealth, 125 31-32.

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