‘Affordable housing is not a luxury, but a fundamental right’
When I graduate, I plan on coming back to the Coachella Valley to call it my home once again. However, the lack of affordable housing opportunities and other essential programs not only make it more difficult to return to the community where I grew up but impact many others in need of stable housing.
I’ve joined a group of Eastern Coachella Valley residents to organize and urge Riverside County to develop a housing plan that ensures the housing needs of every community are met. This can be done by acknowledging the scope of the housing crisis and committing to specific steps that directly address these challenges.
The county’s Housing Element is a critical opportunity to expand housing options and protections that help residents continue to live in the communities they love. This plan is the county’s blueprint to meet housing needs and impacts housing and other forms of development countywide — especially in unincorporated communities like Oasis, Mecca, Thermal and North Shore.
Our communities deserve a Housing Element that reflects our shared commitment to the well-being and prosperity of every resident — where affordable, dignified housing is not a luxury, but a fundamental right. As a community, we urge the county to revise its draft plan to include more actionable measures of success and specific revitalization strategies tailored to each community.
We’ve witnessed substantial surges in home, rent and land prices — leaving the majority of our families without affordable housing options. This has widened the gap between families’ income level and the cost of purchasing a home, forcing residents into the challenging decision between safe living conditions and “affordable” housing. This reality only deepens the uncertainty of finding a safe and affordable home for residents.
Unincorporated communities like Thermal, Oasis, Mecca, North Shore, and others within the county continue to grapple with underrepresentation, housing instability, and a severe lack of basic infrastructure and reliable services. The failure to provide an adequate Housing Element exacerbates these challenges and only deepens the divide in opportunities between these underserved communities and others in the county.
If done correctly, this Housing Element will not only commit the county to protect the livelihood of our community’s residents, but also serve as a clear pathway to ensure promises are fulfilled. Each program listed must include specific objectives broken down into concrete policies and provide clear next steps with specific deadlines and timelines. These improvements will make for a more effective plan that is easily accessible to all residents.
Our hopes for this Housing Element go beyond minimal legal requirements. We envision it as a roadmap to build more livable communities and encourage sustainable growth for our residents. We hope this plan can be created with our community’s makeup and lived experience in mind, relying on resident engagement to ensure the document is easy to understand and accessible for all.
The county has an opportunity to build a housing plan that is committed to the benefit and well-being of all Riverside County communities. It’s time to make these necessary changes and give all residents the resources they need to thrive.
Adriana Torres Ceja is a student at Stanford University. She was raised in North Shore as the youngest daughter of immigrant parents. She plans to return to Eastern Coachella after graduation as a permanent resident to further advocate on behalf of communities. Adriana can be reached at atorresc@stanford.edu.