Empowering Tenants through education and Advocacy
The goal is to give residents the knowledge, resources, and support they need to take action before a housing problem becomes a crisis"
Valeria Steele,
President, WV Tenants Rights Project Inc.
Our Story
West Virginia Tenants Rights Project began in Mercer County when residents of manufactured home communities saw their communities change hands and their housing conditions begin to change.
Following the acquisition of several local manufactured home communities by out-of-state corporate interests, residents faced rising rents, increasingly complicated lease terms, maintenance concerns, and uncertainty about their rights.
For families who owned their homes but rented the land beneath them, moving was often financially or practically impossible.
Longtime resident Valeria Steele began talking with her neighbors, helping residents share information and understand the changes happening in their communities.
Those conversations grew into tenant organizing and eventually into the West Virginia Tenants Rights Project, Inc.
With support and collaboration from organizations including Mountain State Justice, Manufactured Housing Action (MHAction), and Groundwork Project, WVTRP has helped tenants understand their rights, organize collectively, raise concerns about housing practices, and connect with legal and community resources.
That work has also helped bring greater state and national attention to the challenges facing residents of corporate-owned manufactured home communities.
Today, WVTRP is building on those roots to address housing instability more broadly across West Virginia.
Our work includes tenant education, community organizing, eviction prevention, early intervention, referrals and connections to legal assistance, community resource coordination, data collection, and advocacy for stronger housing protections.
We believe many housing crises can be prevented when tenants receive accurate information, legal and community support, and access to resources before a problem reaches the point of displacement or homelessness.
700+
Tenants Organized
Building connections among residents in Mercer County and beyond.
Evictions
Prevented
Helping tenants address housing problems before displacement occurs.
Major Class-Action Settlement
Tenant organizing and legal advocacy contributed to a significant class-action settlement involving manufactured home communities in southern West Virginia.
Our Mission
West Virginia Tenants Rights Project, Inc. is dedicated to advancing safe, stable, and affordable housing for West Virginians.
We empower tenants through education, advocacy, organizing, and community engagement while giving residents the information and tools they need to advocate for themselves and their communities.
Our work helps people understand their rights, navigate housing challenges, connect with legal and community resources, and take meaningful action to protect their housing stability.
Our mission is to promote fair housing practices, expand access to justice, prevent unnecessary displacement and homelessness, and strengthen the voice of tenants in decisions affecting their homes and communities.
We work alongside legal advocates, community organizations, service providers, policymakers, and local partners to address not only housing crises themselves, but also the underlying circumstances that can lead families to eviction and displacement.
We envision a West Virginia where tenants understand their rights, have meaningful access to justice, and have a voice in the decisions affecting their homes.
We believe housing stability strengthens families, neighborhoods, and entire communities and that lasting change happens when residents have both the information and the power to participate in creating it.
Building a Housing Stability Network
WVTRP believes preventing eviction requires more than responding after an eviction case has already been filed.
Housing instability can be connected to many challenges—including loss of income, unexpected expenses, health or family crises, unsafe housing conditions, difficulty accessing benefits, transportation barriers, and lack of legal assistance.
That is why we are working to build partnerships that connect tenant advocacy, legal assistance, social services, health and family resources, and community organizations.
By identifying problems earlier and coordinating resources, communities can help more families remain safely and stably housed while reducing the broader consequences of eviction and homelessness.