On the Home Front

Sandra Barksdale is a long-time resident of Reston, Virginia. She has been advocating for safe and healthy living conditions for tenants at the Bowman Towne Court apartment complex in Reston since 2019. She has advocated for repairs and maintenance throughout the complex amidst calls by local politicians, developers, and community groups to tear down Bowman Towne Court.

Barksdale spoke with the NLIHC field team about her background, advocacy experiences, and plans for growing her local organizing network.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you started advocating for better housing as a tenant?

I went to school in Reston as a kid. I moved from White Plains, New York, but relocated to Reston because I have family here.

I started off working with Herndon-Reston FISH [Friendly Instant Sympathetic Help]. I helped with ERA, clothes, and food for low-income residents. I enjoyed being in a position to assist people who had similar needs to my own.

My advocacy for tenants at Bowman started in 2019. The most important thing was having resident voices heard. Step one was speaking to people one-on-one. From those conversations, I learned that there is a knowledge gap – residents don’t know what to do, who to call, what is happening. I understood that residents need a voice for their concerns because there is fear involved with advocating for themselves. I always stress community connection in the work. My ultimate goal is a healthy and safe community environment.

Q: What is some advice you would like to share with others in similar situations, who are both tenants and advocates?

You have rights. You have the power to advocate for yourself and others in similar and worse situations.

It’s important to be consistent. Tell as many people your story as possible. Make phone calls until you reach the right person: the person with power. Sometimes residents are scared. They need people to be a voice and speak on their behalf.

Retaliation from management, landlords, or others is a real fear. You have to build trust in your community and eventually other communities. You will still have residents who are scared, so it’s important to maintain anonymity for people who are fearful. With their permission, you can speak on their behalf. You can get numbers of residents up with phone calls and letters and even suggest that residents form their own organizations.

Q: Is self-care something you practice? If so, what are some self-care tips you can share with other tenant advocates?

Yes, self-care is crucial for tenant advocates. Without self-care you can’t do the work. You can’t respond in the proper way. So many people are relying on us. Advocates should prioritize health issues and their families.

For my own self-care, I attend to my physical, mental, and spiritual journey. There can’t be one of those without the other. My self-care comes from a spiritual foundation.

Q: Is there anything else you want to say about tenant advocacy work or your work specifically?

We can get so engulfed in everything else that we can think, “There’s no one else out here doing this work.” But there is.

It’s beneficial for tenants and advocates to have connections with other advocates. We don’t have to get involved with all the business or technicalities of every property, but there could be something I don’t know that another person knows that could benefit my situation. This could be relationships with leaders or ways to foster respect and build trust in that community.

I am also working on organizing in a bigger way. I am using the Bowman Towne Court model and activities to reach out to other low-income housing properties in Reston. There are political moves happening that we can no longer ignore. We can’t assume officials know what’s happening in the properties. We have to bring attention to the issues and say, “We need to come with funding and solutions for this problem.”

There’s a big meeting coming up in November with residents of other low-income properties in Reston. Along with volunteers we are doing face-to-face recruitment at other properties. We are asking, “What are your needs? What are your concerns?” We are going to be flyering starting September 29. We are eventually trying to get other organizations and religious groups to support our efforts.