Dr. Erin Feichtinger, Policy Director of the Women's Fund Pt. 1
Dr. Erin Feichtinger Represents District 2 on the Metropolitan Community College Board of Governors.She joined the Women’s Fund as Policy Director in May 2022. She brings her extensive experience working on policy to increase housing security, food security and economic security at both the local and state level. Dr. Feichtinger has worked on several successful policy initiatives including Omaha’s Rental Registration and Proactive Inspection Ordinance as well as legislation increasing tenant protections and access to justice, increasing access to SNAP and affordable childcare. Her most recent efforts to secure federal funding for rental assistance and legal representation for tenants in eviction court has resulted in increased housing stability for all Nebraskans.
Dr. Feichtinger has a degree in special education and a Ph.D. in history from Loyola University Chicago. She loves reading, research, music, learning the drums and spending time watching her daughter interact with the world.
https://www.todaysomahawoman.com/news/erin-feichtinger/ [https://www.todaysomahawoman.com/news/erin-feichtinger/]
“While Erin Feichtinger, Ph.D., is not a journalist, she “plays one on Twitter”—thanks to her undying passion for housing justice.
Her tweet threads detailing Douglas County Eviction Court give a bird’s eye view into the housing crisis, and she is often asked if she is a reporter.
She works with case managers and attorneys and partners with organizations like Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless (MACCH) and Legal Aid of Nebraska to problem-solve and streamline the process so people can apply for rental assistance. “I genuinely believe that most of my job is trying to make their lives easier, from writing policies to showing up to the Legislature and going to City Council meetings.”
Feichtinger says during 2020, she spent a lot of time with elected officials, securing rental, food and utility assistance funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. “I couldn’t be prouder to work every day with the absolute heroes who took on our neighbor’s collective pain and panic and helped them navigate through it all.”
She has championed human rights from the start. In high school, she was a counselor at Camp Munroe, a recreational therapy program from UNMC’s Munroe-Meyer Institute for kids and adults with physical and/or mental disabilities.
“Camp Munroe changed my life and probably set me on this path. I find that I always want to know why things are the way they are, and working with people with disabilities made me see the bigger systems at work that can often make life difficult for people,” she says.”
https://www.civicnebraska.org/20220531-sda-erin-feichtinger/ [https://www.civicnebraska.org/20220531-sda-erin-feichtinger/]
Each year, Civic Nebraska’s Strengthening Democracy Awards [https://www.civicnebraska.org/sda-2022] recognize Nebraskans whose work embodies the spirit of a modern, robust democracy.
Civic Nebraska honors Erin Feichtinger of Omaha with the 2022 Civic Catalyst Award for relentlessly fighting for housing justice in Nebraska.
Erin leads calls to action, helps Nebraskans tackle the state’s housing affordability issues, and has been a force in the lobby at the statehouse on behalf of emergency rental assistance for the state’s residents. In the most recent session of the Nebraska Legislature, Erin was instrumental in organizing, educating, and activating hundreds of Nebraskans to fight for aid, as well as other matters of fundamental housing fairness at the state and local levels.
---
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/midwest-misfits/support [https://anchor.fm/midwest-misfits/support]
