The amount of teen activists is increasing and each activist has their own reason for becoming an activist. For junior Justin Li, it began with the civic engagement project assigned in AP Government. 

Said Li, “The more research I’ve done with my group the more genuinely concerned I became [with the housing crisis].”

After completing his assignment, Li along with his group decided to investigate and take actions on the controversies surrounding Vallco Reconstruction. Following his research and hearing from both perspectives, Li determined who he wanted to advocate for. 

Said Li, “When I [listened] to those who are most affected by the housing crisis in Cupertino – namely De Anza students and public sector workers – I [realized] how many people truly yearn for an affordable place to stay in over nostalgia of what the city looks like. With the education sector being Cupertino’s largest source of income, these are the people that contribute the most to Cupertino, and these are the people I want to advocate for.” 

In order to combat the housing issues present in Cupertino, Li created Cupertino Students for Housing (CSFH) to raise awareness among the student body. CSFH is a group which represents the youths’s concerns for the city and is currently helping Cupertino For All, a group that advocates for inclusion and affordable housing, to hold a meeting for school officials. 

Said Li, “My team is planning on helping Cupertino For All hold a town hall-esque meeting for school officials to discuss our state of education in relation to housing.” 

Students that want to help the housing issue can do a number of things such as joining SCFH to represent the youth’s voice on the current housing crisis, and speaking at city council meetings. 

Li said, “It’s important to build a new political atmosphere of inclusion and humans over landscapes, hopefully making it so that Cupertino is no longer the infamous city across the state for being hard on housing projects, the city no developers want to work with.”