Paola Arellano-Rosales, Organizer

Housing Story:

Being a daughter of immigrant parents, I never knew what it was like to have a space of my own. I always shared a room with my sister or other extended family so that any extra rooms could be sublet in order to make rent. As a kid growing up in Redwood City, that didn’t matter to me as long as I was near the people I cared about most. My family has lived in Redwood City since their arrival in 1992 from their country of origin but recently had to move due to unaffordability. Fortunately, they have been able to remain not too far from Redwood City, however, that’s not something that a lot of families like mine can say. I returned to the Bay Area after living in the Central Valley where I was paying under $300 in rent. The harsh

reality of housing hit me as I realized that living near your friends and family is no longer easily obtainable in the Bay. The rising cost of living has driven many of our most vulnerable community members out of what was once their home. I organize to keep families like mine in their homes and close to family and community.

Bio:

Paola is part of the Program team at HLC, focusing on anti-displacement policy solutions for South San Francisco residents and organizing the community to develop and advocate for equitable policy change.

While working with the South City community, Paola noticed that the majority of regular meeting attendees were Spanish-speaking. Although they could engage in conversations during the Spanish-led meetings, they faced barriers to communication outside of this setting. This realization inspired the advancement of language justice within the organization, starting with Spanish and Chinese. HLC is now organizing an Interpreter Certificate Program, with Paola responsible for connecting with bilingual housing advocates to share this opportunity. These efforts aim to ensure equitable access to housing decisions for non-English speakers and culturally diverse individuals, promoting true civic engagement within linguistically and culturally diverse communities.

Beyond her work in South San Francisco and on language accessibility, Paola has been central in a campaign to advocate for renter protections in San Mateo through the gathering of community housing stories to help push for policies that tackle unfair evictions and rising rent costs.