Hmong Innovating Politics is spreading the word on Prop. 5 and housing policy to Fresno voters
Like many Californians across the state, residents of Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley are being hit hard by the cost of housing. It’s a complaint often heard by members of Hmong Innovating Politics while discussing issues with others in their community.
“Pretty much across the board you can see that community members are struggling, especially with rent,” Vang Her, a team leader with HIP, notes. “The rent has increased so much within the past year so it really has been a struggle, and community members do voice that out to us.”
Founded in 2012, Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP) is a grassroots organization dedicated to politically empowering Hmong and underserved communities. As a founding member of MOVE the Valley, HIP expanded to Fresno in 2018 to mobilize two of California’s largest Hmong American communities. Her says the organization recently completed a civic engagement program to find out what their community’s biggest needs were, and housing and rent costs were among the most commonly expressed concerns.
“We just wanted to make sure our community knows that they do have a voice and power, and that they can make a difference.”
Vang Her, Team Leader, Hmong Innovating Politics
As part of addressing the issue of housing policy, Her says HIP has thrown its efforts to inform voters about California Proposition 5 for the November 5th election. The proposition, if passed, would lower the voting threshold to make it easier to obtain funding for a variety of public infrastructure projects, including affordable housing construction.
“We do the circuit on what our community needs, and their needs are affordable housing,” Her says. “So we are working on (Prop. 5) so we can do something about it.”
Having worked with HIP since 2018, Her says one of the obstacles when trying to engage with the public is an increased sense of apathy regarding the voting process, something he says became more noticeable after the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether it was about housing policy or other topics, Her was seeing more people unsure about the importance of their votes.
“I was just speaking to a Hmong voter who asked me, ‘Are you sure voting will make a difference?’” Her remembers. “Individuals are just very discouraged.”
While this sentiment has become more noticeable to Her, he also notes that he and other canvassers for HIP have had some success in reassuring and empowering people that their vote does matter.
“It’s a direct action you can do to do something about it,” Her says. “We just wanted to make sure our community knows that they do have a voice and power, and that they can make a difference locally.”
Changing people’s attitudes is far from easy, but it’s one Her believes HIP is making headway towards. He is also confident in the organization’s ability to provide information, listen to voters’ concerns and dreams, and get people interested in Prop. 5 and housing policy in general.
“I think we have been pretty successful, I feel like people do know who we are and they trust us,” Her says. “I feel like, in terms of outreach, people will know what we stand for.”
For more information about Hmong Innovating Politics and how to get involved visit hipcalifornia.com/.
