HOLYOKE — Christiana Haramut has dealt with some of the same issues at her rental apartment inside a 113-year-old building near downtown for years — moldy ceilings, leaking drainage pipes and drafty windows, to name just some of the issues.

Though her landlord has tried to address the issues with various fixes to the building at 31 Cabot St., its age has limited how fixable anything really is, Haramut says.

“It’s very superficial fixes because of the lack of resources and the age of the building,” Haramut said at a renters’ rights rally outside City Hall Wednesday afternoon. “We have this huge housing crisis and it’s been 20-plus years of decision-making that have made it this way, so we need to be relentless and careful on how we address this going forward.”

Haramut was one of several canvassers with the Holyoke chapter of Neighbor to Neighbor, a statewide organization that advocates for housing, environmental and criminal justice. In addition to advocating for the rights of renters, about 40 rallygoers Wednesday also discussed the high cost of living in the state, including what it costs to rent.

The issue is of paramount importance in Holyoke, where about 64% of residents rent their homes. But it is not exclusive to the Paper City, as prices for rentals are a concern across the state where an estimated 37% of all housing units are rentals, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The rally called for legislation at the state level to address the high costs of housing, such as overturning a current ban on rent control, giving tenants the right of first refusal when landlords put their properties on the market, and supporting sustainable housing that meets the state’s carbon-neutral goals.

State Sen. John Velis, whose district includes the Holyoke and is the only western Massachusetts senator to serve on the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Housing, has expressed support for the goals stated at the rally. Attendants of the rally were encouraged to text Velis to voice support for the bills.

“Housing is the biggest issue facing the commonwealth, and I think it’s a beautiful thing that there are people who are so passionate about it,” Velis said in an interview. “I’m sort of upset I wasn’t invited to speak at their rally.”

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for affordable housing, Massachusetts is the third most expensive state to live in, behind California and Hawaii. Of renter households in the state, 31% are considered extremely low income (defined as less than $34,300 for a four-person household), with an annual household income of $86,613 needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the state.

Among Massachusetts renters, more than 40% of renter-occupied households spent 35% or more of their income toward paying rent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, despite most apartments requiring rent to be no higher than a third of one’s income.

Personal stories

Several Neighbors to Neighbors members talked about their housing struggles, as well as leading chants of “This is what democracy looks like,” and “Housing rights are human rights!”

Lead organizer Katie Talbot spoke about the difficulties she has faced in the past with finding livable housing that she could afford for her and her daughter before eventually finding an apartment they were able to move into.

“We are able to move in, but it wasn’t long before my daughter and I would be getting sick on a regular basis. The mold in the carpet and the windowsill would cause us to deal with headaches for two years,” she said. “Do you know what it’s like to be a mom who’s only able to provide a home that’s making your kids sick?”

Talbot said it’s time to rethink the way housing is viewed in the United States.

“We need to start talking about [housing] as a human right, and we need to start challenging investment firms making millions off our housing,” she said. “There’s been a switch in this country from landlords who actually care about the service they’re providing to corporations who are creating blight and causing homelessness.”

Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia also spoke at the rally in support of tenants’ rights, announcing that his administration would be creating an Office of Tenant Protection to help tenants access more resources and ensure greater safety of apartment units.

“I grew up in a south Holyoke rental. I know about absentee landlords. I’m very familiar with issues around mice and peeling paint,” Garcia said. “This is why I welcome the protests and demonstrations, because most certainly there’s a lot we need to protest about.”

Garcia noted, however, that it is going to take time to get the new office up and running as well as to find a person to head it.

“It won’t happen next week, or six months from now,” he said. “But with your help together, we can move in that direction.”

At-large City Councilor Jose Velez, sporting a Neighbors to Neighbors T-shirt, also spoke at the rally and thanked the organizers for bringing the issue of housing to attention.

“We all understand that bringing about change requires an active involvement of everyone,” he said. “I firmly believe that our most pressing issues must be addressed at the local level, and today’s [rally] exemplifies this principle.”

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