Causa Justa :: Just Cause (CJJC) brings together two organizations that evolved different organizing models in their respective communities.
St. Peter’s Housing Committee was founded on a service provision model, and later brought service provision and organizing together in direct response to community needs. For decades, St. Peter’s ran a tenant counseling clinic that helped tenants advocate for themselves around issues like rent increases, evictions and harassment. As more and more residents were being pushed out of their homes, these counseling services served as a mechanism to grow St. Peter’s as a membership organization that fought — and won — campaigns around issues of gentrification and displacement.
Just Cause Oakland, on the other hand, developed out of a more traditional community organizing model that prioritized door-to-door outreach to recruit large numbers of members to participate in fighting campaigns. Over its ten years, Just Cause Oakland led successful campaigns for tenants’ rights and mobilized thousands of Oaklanders for housing rights protections.