Detrese Dowridge
Detrese was born and raised in Baltimore City and has been working as a tenant advocate since May 2013 when she joined Right to Housing Alliance as a volunteer (In 2022 Right to Housing Alliance merged with Baltimore Renters United). Detrese has testified at both the city and statewide levels during the legislative session, advocating for renters rights.
In March 2014, Detrese, along with other tenants, filed a class action lawsuit against her landlord Sage Management. The lawsuit addressed the company’s use of “fee churning”, a process of charging many small fees that keeps renting families constantly guessing at what they owe in any given month, constantly falling farther 'behind' on the landlord's ledger and constantly facing eviction. The lawsuit was successful with tenants winning nearly a one million dollar settlement for past and current tenants.
Detrese is the proud recipient of the 2014 John P. Sarbanes Courage Award from the Public Justice Center for her work in housing justice.
After her experience of being impacted by housing injustice and predatory rental practices herself, Detrese is passionate about educating and helping renters by giving them the power to thrive and stand up against housing injustice.
Lead Organizer
Heather Johnson
Heather Johnson is a proud native of Columbus, Ohio. As a Certified Community Health Worker, she has dedicated herself to advocating for various causes, including housing justice, reproductive justice, criminal justice, fighting voter suppression, police accountability, and climate justice.
Heather was integral to several impactful organizations, including FREEDOMBLOC, Ohio Women's Alliance, Columbus Police Accountability Project, HEER2SERVE, and serves as a contractor for LDF NAACP. She is also one of the co-founders of Justice Unity & Social Transformation (JUST), a remarkable initiative providing essential community services. Through JUST's bi-monthly events, Heather and her team distribute free hot and nutritious food, hygiene products, first aid supplies, menstrual products, clothing for all ages and sizes, and barrier-free contraception.
Heather's dedication to positive change extends beyond Ohio, as she has also made significant contributions in her new home, Baltimore. She played a pivotal role in organizing the Renters United Maryland Summit, canvassed with Baltimore Renters United, provided compelling testimony with Organizing Black, and supported youth coalitions working on issues related to mental health and education. Heather Johnson is a force for positive transformation, driven by her unwavering commitment to equity and justice. She is deeply committed to fostering safer and more stable spaces for individuals of all ages, from the youngest to the tallest among us.
Organizer
Indigo Null
Organizer
Indigo is an artist and activist who grew up in the anarchopunk community in rural South Carolina. They became involved in DIY mutual aid and antifascist organizing as a teen before moving to Baltimore in their early 20’s to start a music & arts collective. Indigo began volunteering with BRU during the pandemic to help promote a series of tenants rights bills targeting unlicensed landlords before realizing they’d accidentally found their dream job. They are one of the founding members of the Copycat Tenants Union; they helped organize a rent strike (going on 3 years now!), protests, and other actions to demand accountability from city agencies for dangerous and inhumane conditions in both their building and the city as a whole. In 2022 they received a John P. Sarbanes Courage Award from the Public Justice Center, as well as a BRU Tenant Leadership Award for organizing in their community. Their ultimate goal is to eliminate slumlords from Baltimore city and destroy the system that has allowed slumlords to thrive, manifesting a world where housing is decommodified and protected as a human right.