Pro-Housing Group Honored for Standing Up to Adversity

Stand Up for Neighborly Novato, formed as a self-proclaimed civil voice in the contentious debate about quota-based affordable housing, is being recognized for standing firm against groups that have fought new housing options.

The group, founded in January 2011, is the recipient of Live Local Marin's Organization of the Year award.

Representatives of SUNN will receive the honor Tuesday, May 15, at a 5:30 p.m. banquet at Jackson Cafe in downtown San Rafael.

Live Local Marin, a Marin-based initiative backed by the Marin Community Foundation, is honoring five organizations and two individuals for their accomplishments and resilience in supporting and developing affordable places for people to live in Marin County. Other recipients are the Community Land Trust of West Marin, Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco, Tabitha Hurt, San Clemente Place by EAH Housing, and League of Women Voters Transportation and Land Use & Housing Committee.

 “The housing battles in Marin have been long and often hostile,” said Dianne Spaulding, executive director of the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, which co-coordinates Live Local Marin with Greenbelt Alliance. “Between them, the awardees have decades of experience in making sure Marin has more housing options for all income levels, and they have the battle scars to prove it.”

Rev. Pamela Griffith Pond, spokesperson for Stand Up for Neighborly Novato, said the organizers of SUNN were honored to receive the award, "but it isn’t ours alone. Our 1,110 Novato endorsers fuel this organization and deserve the credit for giving those in favor of housing a voice in Novato’s housing debate."  

SUNN often found itself on an island during the affordable housing debates of 2010-2011, which transfixed many residents of the city and left targeted neighborhoods in an uproar. SUNN sprung up in response to what Live Local Marin described as "aggressive and vocal opposition" to affordable housing in the city of Novato.

“These local heroes have spoken up for people who have roots in the community,” Jeremy Madsen, executive director of Greenbelt Alliance, said of the award winners. “Today we celebrate these leaders for demanding a better Marin, one that is a sustainable and equitable place to live.”

Griffith Pond said SUNN is growing and continuing to advocate for more housing options for seniors, recent graduates, young families, Novato workers and disabled residents.

"With Marin rents being the highest in the country and hurting residents financially, our work is more important than ever," she said.