The Need: We’re at a critical moment in the fight for affordability in the United States. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a billionaire with a chainsaw slashing through affordability, democracy, and justice. We can change the future. In the fight between the affordability movement and bad billionaires, we actually have a shot at winning—by making housing, healthcare, food, transportation, and childcare truly affordable for all.

My name is Dr. Dominic Cappello, a researcher, educator, and creator of the seven-book 5 Essentials Platform collection—each book serving as a guide and blueprint designed to mobilize communities and empower people to demand affordability from local and state government in key areas of life: healthcare, housing, food, childcare, and transportation. I recently completed my doctoral program researching the social determinants of health, affordability, and strategies to ensure access to affordable housing, healthcare, healthy food, transportation, and childcare. Observing federal government cuts to vital services and threats to programs like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and food support inspired me to turn my dissertation into a seven-book series to support local change agents.

Funds will be used to create and pilot a self-guided web-based course for change agents across the nation based on one of the seven books in the 5 Essentials Platform: Mayors, Affordable Cities, and Billionaire Pushback. This project includes the funding of project management, instructional design, editing, proofing, video production, graphic design, interviews, course materials, and a learning management and community-building platform. The course will help city reformers and community members mobilize for affordability and justice. I invite you to join me in providing tools to change agents and everyday altruists seeking to ensure affordability, democracy, and justice.

Deliverable: The final deliverable of the project is a new self‑guided course that serves as a repository of research, policy‑reform strategies, book‑club engagement tools, public‑awareness resources, and funding opportunities for local activism—giving everyday activists a fighting chance against billionaire power to create cities where everyone can thrive with essential affordable services.

Learn more: On the site www.affordablecitiesforall.com you can learn more about the five essential services, the seven-part book collection, my extensive bio, and blog articles that illustrate the need for pro-affordability resources. The course provides tools for those seeking change in the face of billionaire influence in government, mass media, and social media.

Housing the Project: The course development described in this proposal, the Affordable Cities for All website and educational materials, and the 5 Essentials Platform book collection reflect the personal views and independent work of Dr. Dominic Cappello, housed within Dominic Cappello, LLC, and are not affiliated with or endorsed by any institution of higher education.

Thank you for considering this proposal and the opportunity to support groundbreaking work in the emerging discipline of pro-affordability research and practice.