Welcome to Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams from Cricket Media.

I'm your host St Abrams. Food, shelter, clothing. Most of us would

list these among our core necessities for survival and we're not alone. In fact, Professor Abraham Harold Maslow is

credited with actually organizing how we think about our needs into a pyramid

known as

mazlow's hierarchy. In his groundbreaking work, he posited that we all begin with our

physiological needs as the basis of our behaviors, essentially what we require to

survive. Once those are satisfied, we move up the scale, allowing creative and intellectual

self-actualization needs to take over. But survival not only comes first,

it's the foundation for everything that follows.

Hungry, you can't think. Cold, you can't focus. No place to live, see items one and two,

and a dozen other consequences including losing your job

your family and your future. For millions of Americans they have a hard time

conceptualizing the pinnacle of the pyramid for a simple reason.

The cost of housing is skyrocketing. But this isn't news. In fact, in 2010,

political newcomer Jimmy McMillan emphasized this reality when he ran for

governor of New York.

Rhett, it's too damn high. Jimmy was so serious he also made it the name of his political party. Mr. McMillan did not

succeed in his bid for leadership but nearly 15 years later his colorful call to

action continues to live on and the rent is still rising.

After the pandemic prices soared even more and in many parts of the country the

average rent rose faster than inflation. Around the same time,

...