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 and became 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. A 2022 fellow of the Level Up Movement Law Lab and an alumni of Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD) class of 2022
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 because she believe impacted voices should be leading and becoming leaders in their own right to build a tenant-led movement.
Executive Director
Heather Johnson
Heather Johnson is a proud native of Columbus, Ohio. As a previously Certified Community Health Worker, she has dedicated herself to advocating for various causes, including housing justice, reproductive justice, mothering 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 other Black led organizations. 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, employed by 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. Heather is a 2025 Mamavist Movement Fellow and an alumni of Black Organizing Leadership and Dignity (BOLD) class of 2024. 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
Helena Tearer
Digital Organizer
Helena Tearer is a Maryland native who has worked in the realm of digital organizing for nearly a decade. She is an alumni of the alustrious Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia and has worked as a graphic designer for 15 years. A primary medium of her digital organizing work has been art disseminated on social media in the form of political memes, posters, apparel, stickers, and more. Her specialities include logo & brand design, digital media marketing, social media management & growth, and event organization and coordination.
Beyond her creative endeavors, Helena has been a champion of local community organizing in the form of mutual aid, hosting events as fundraisers and using digital media to raise necessary monies for marginalized communites, with a special focus on her own community: transgender people of color, especially black transgender women.
She has extensive personal experience in combating injustices imposed by landlords and shady property management company practices, having accrued her own win-loss ratio of court cases against said entities, which emboldens her to pursue this line of work with fervor and a very personal passion.
In her capacity with BRU, Helena works to maintain a consistent brand identity for the organization, manages social media, coordinates event planning and promotion, and more.