Ten Housing Justice Advocates Got State-Guaranteed Communal Housing. Meet Gennady, Their New Roommate.
For years they posted, marched, and organized around a single non-negotiable demand: housing is a human right, and the commodification of shelter must end. The state agreed. The state then introduced them to Building 7, Block C, a 400-square-foot unit with a shared bathroom on the third floor, neighbors they did not select, and Gennady, a retired tractor engineer who considers 5am an entirely reasonable hour to begin accordion practice. Here are their stories.