On the Home Front

The Housing Network of Rhode Island (HNRI), a nominee for the 2025 Organizing Awards and an NLIHC state partner, is recognized for its leadership to enact a statewide housing bond in the November 2024 elections.   

Conversations about a housing bond began after the state allocated nearly one-third of its American Rescue Plan Act state fiscal recovery funds to housing and homelessness programs. These investments sparked increased affordable housing development – yet housing advocates knew that these one-time funds would be expended quickly, and would not meet the scale of the need on their own. To prevent a funding cliff that could stall the development of affordable homes, housing advocates began lobbying the governor’s office and the state’s newly established Department of Housing for a housing bond on the November 2024 ballot. 

Following this initial advocacy, Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee released a budget request in January 2024 that included a $100 million housing bond proposal. HNRI and its multisector Homes RI coalition released a statement that supported Governor McKee’s request for a housing bond measure, and called for increasing the funding amount to $150 million. 

Over the next several months, HNRI and Homes RI advocated for the state legislature to place a $150 million bond on the ballot. In addition to the increase in funds, advocates pressed for a majority of the funds to be allocated to low- and moderate-income housing, with a focus on renters making at or below 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) and homeowners making at or below 120% of AMI. Advocates also pushed for the bond to prioritize oversight and community input, rather than unilateral decision-making. 

The General Assembly ultimately approved a state budget that included a $120 million housing bond proposal – a meaningful increase above the governor’s original request — with two-thirds of the funds dedicated to low- and moderate-income housing. To ensure accountability, the bond proposal authorized the State Housing Resources Commission, an appointed body of volunteers with housing expertise, to administer the funds. The passage of the budget with a strong bond proposal completed the first phrase of advocacy for the housing bond measure. 

On the heels of this legislative victory, advocates geared up for the campaign to approve the bond measure at the ballot box. The housing bond measure was one of five statewide questions on the ballot, and was designated as Question #3 on the ballot, so the electoral campaign for the housing bond measure branded itself as “Yes on 3.”

While the Yes on 3 campaign lacked an official field component, HNRI integrated Yes on 3 messaging with its nonpartisan voter education and mobilization campaign. As an Our Homes, Our Votes pilot community partner, HNRI carried out a robust doorknocking and phonebanking program to boost voter turnout among subsidized housing residents. HNRI staff and volunteers — including volunteers with lived experience — canvassed residents, helped them create their voting plans, and provided information about Question 3. Among residents who were planning to vote, the vast majority expressed their support for Question 3. The Our Homes, Our Votes canvassing effort enabled HNRI to not only spread the word about Question 3, but also to establish personal connections with affordable housing residents that will lay the groundwork for future relationship-building and civic engagement opportunities. 

To spread the word among community members, the campaign also held an official launch event, invested heavily in Spanish-language media, published opinion pieces that highlighted projects funded by past bond resources, maintained a website, built up a social media presence, and distributed materials such as stickers, literature, and lawn signs.  

Taken together, these outreach strategies proved effective: the bond measure passed with 65.6% of voters’ approval. In 34 of the state’s 39 municipalities, a majority of voters supported the bond — a notable increase from 2016, where 25 of 39 municipalities voted in favor of a housing bond. “The message and the need for affordable housing transcended partisan politics,” reflected Katie West, HNRI’s director of strategic initiatives, as voters favored the bond in red-leaning and blue-leaning communities alike. 

While the campaign lacked formal opposition, many voters remain skeptical that public investments in housing can make a meaningful difference. Some Rhode Islanders fear that public funds are not being put to the best possible use, and will question whether bond resources have made a real impact when the state’s shortage of affordable homes is not immediately solved. In the 2025 legislative session, HNRI and the Homes RI coalition intend to “‘inoculate against” that sentiment, as Katie put it, and demonstrate that affordable housing is a necessary and beneficial addition to the communities that create it. HNRI also plans to advocate for effective implementation of the bond and to ensure that resources are invested in communities with the greatest housing needs.  

Join NLIHC in congratulating HNRI and their allies on a major organizing win! 

About the NLIHC Organizing Awards 

NLIHC’s annual Organizing Awards recognize outstanding achievements in statewide, regional, citywide, neighborhood, or resident organizing that further NLIHC’s mission of ensuring that people with the lowest incomes have quality homes that are accessible and affordable in communities of their choice. On the Home Front will highlight the victories of organizing award nominees throughout February and March. The winners will be announced the week prior to NLIHC’s 2025 Housing Policy Forum, where they will participate in a plenary discussion.