URGENT: Help Protect Affordable Housing!  Whether or not you live in Langley Park, we need you to speak out to protect this vital community!  Go here to write a letter.  For more information, see below.

See an open letter to the Prince George's County Planning Board from four Prince George's County Rabbis here. 

On Tuesday June 23rd, more than sixty people came out to demand protections for existing affordable housing and local small business in the Prince George's County Sector Plan for development in Langley Park, where the planned Purple Line light rail project is expected to spur development and revitalization.

The attendees demanded the preservation and improvement of affordable housing, small business retention, and physical planning to improve pedestrian access and safety. As it stands, all current rental housing, which is largely occupied by low-income and immigrant residents, has been rezoned, with no protections in place for existing occupants.

JUFJ showed up in impressive numbers with a headcount of 16!  On top of that, our allied partners including CASA de Maryland, the Prince George's Justice and Advocacy Council, and the Catholic Community of Langley Park brought dozens of residents, business owners, religious leaders, and other individuals. JUFJ Executive Director testified to explain our concerns, and JUFJ's intern Shira Dickler wrapped up the long evening of testimony with a powerful statement on behalf of the young adult/student population of Prince George's County.

Thanks to JUFJ volunteer Erica Raphael, we made an even stronger statement visually with our sea of matching white t-shirts with the slogan, "A Better Langley Park Includes Us!"

So, what's next?  It's no time to let up, now that we've got their attention, so our next push will be to generate as much written testimony as possible before the July 14th deadline.  Please take a few minutes to write a letter here. 

Also, if you have friends who live in Prince George's County who would be interested in this issue, please pass this along to them.

For more information about how to get involved in this campaign, email julie@jufj.org or come to our next Fair Purple Line campaign meeting.