C4J ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES
- Dr. Bernadine Ahonkhai
- Mar 17
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 20
CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR COMMISSIONERS
On January 31, 2025, at the Conversations with Montgomery County Commissioners, the power of the people was at work. Coalition4Justice CEO, Dr. Bernadine Ahonkhai and Roberta Brooks, Coalition’s Steering Committee Secretary, were among the attendees. The meeting was attended by all three County Commissioners (Mr. Neil Makhija, Mrs. Jamila Winder, and Mr. Thomas DiBello) and about one hundred people from nonprofit organizations, businesses and residents concerned about “Housing Insecurity and Homelessness in Montgomery. Two CEOs from nonprofit organizations (TLC for the People, and Your Way Home) and the Health Spark Foundation CEO presented the escalating issues about Housing Insecurity and Homelessness in the County followed by response from each of the three MONTCO Commissioners. The Commissioners shared the County’s initiatives following the Grants Pass Decision with the audience. The Commissioners also fielded questions from the audience, one of which was from Dr. Bernadine Ahonkhai, Founder & CEO of Coalition4Justice, Montgomery County, PA. (See Photo). Dr. Ahonkhai asked the Commissioners what was being done, if anything, about the housing insecurity and the homelessness situation in Norristown, the seat of Montgomery County government, and the bureaucratic and prohibitive borough zoning ordinance that prevents developers from building affordable houses in the borough. Kristyn Di ’Dominick, President of Bucks-Mont Collaborative that houses the Community Action Network (CAN) assured the County Commissioners that CAN is committed to stand tall and work alongside with MONTCO Commissioners to address housing insecurity, homelessness, and mental health issues in our communities. The meeting ended with a Norristown Police Officer, Robert Langdon, sharing his experience with our unhoused residents and making a passionate statement and plea about the urgency in addressing the critical issue of our unhoused county residents and the need for compassion and some understanding because not every individual without a legal house to sleep in is a drug addict.
LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST, THE CAPITOL, HARRISBURG, PA
Dr. Bernadine Ahonkhai, and over a dozen nonprofit CEO’s from Mongomery and Bucks Counties were in Harrisburg on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, for legislative breakfast with PA legislators and staff.
Several Senate and House members attended the CAN-sponsored breakfast. CAN members had the opportunity to meet one-on-one with legislators and personally engage them about CAN’s two critical Social Justice issues in both Montgomery County and BUCKS County which are – Affordable Housing/Homelessness and Mental Health and CAN’S willingness to partner with legislators to help address and consequentially solve these looming issues. CAN Legislative Breakfast meeting took place a day after PA Governor Shapiro released his 2025 Budget. In the released budget, the Governor acknowledges the critical need to address housing affordability, homelessness, and mental health issues. Shapiro signed an Executive Order in September 2024 creating a Housing Action Plan to address the state’s critical housing shortage, address homelessness, and increase the availability of affordable housing options. The hope is that the Housing Action Plan, when implemented, will ensure residents have access to safe, affordable housing and attract more people to live and work in the state. Coalition4Justice believes that these critical issues can be solved but it needs legislative leadership and full support to counties and municipalities. CAN’s legislative breakfast meeting was successful in building relationships with the legislators and their senior staff and ensuring legislators that CAN members are willing and able collaborate with them to solve the housing, homelessness and mental health crisis that face our communities. CAN is currently planning another Advocacy Day in Harrisburg, Pa, scheduled for June 4, 2025.
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