March 28, 2026

On Friday, several Kairos folks attended the powerful launch of Common Ground and Tenants United's campaign to address housing injustices in our city.  Eleanor Hoppe reflected on the moment:

I had the chance to be present at the Common Ground/Tenants United/City Attorney press conference on action against horribly negligent Milwaukee landlords. Standing between two three-story homes in Riverwest, one an uninhabitable shambles and one nearly so, my heart ached for folks who struggle to find housing.  And my heart ached for those courageous tenants who shared stories of how hard and stressful their lives can be when landlords don’t do the bare minimum (running water, heat, repairing roofs and windows) to make their homes livable. 

The crowd cheered and boo-ed and affirmed the call for justice. The lawsuits ask the court to appoint a receiver who will use the rents to remedy the property deficiencies relatively quickly, though there are still a lot of steps to get there.

A lot of work, creativity and expertise went into the months and years leading up to the filing of the lawsuits and the press conference.  For me, it was a joy and privilege to be a witness to that good work, to be a body in the crowd and stand in that small way in support of vision and tangible change.