"I know what it's like to be threatened with the loss of your home when you're most vulnerable," he says.

A few years ago, Marcotte was faced with a series of evictions and rent increases in the midst of a medical emergency. His partner was dying of AIDS.

"My landlord knew what was going on but didn't care," Marcotte says.

While Marcotte's housing situation has stabilized somewhat, the incident prompted him to get involved with EZF.

"When you see things this outrageous, sometimes you have to take to the streets," he says.

Strength in Solidarity

Dan Bouchard, a 29-year-old Cambridge resident who works at MIT Press says EZF's educational and outreach work is vital.

Bouchard is currently facing eviction, but said he is optimistic because he knows his rights. "If you know you have rights and assert them then you can deal with it," he says.

"It's more scary for people who don't know their rights, who think that they're alone," he says. "They're vulnerable. They pay their rent on time, they're responsible, and [when they get served with a notice] they think they've done something wrong."

According to Bouchard, landlords lie to tenants outright, telling them that they have no rights, and prey on ignorance.

Bouchard advocates tenant organization. "There's strength in solidarity," he says.

However, he says he believes that his eviction is a result of his activism, a common theme at the rally.

"It's not a coincidence that I helped my neighbors to organize a tenants' association two years ago," Bouchard says. "It's retaliation."

On the other hand, Elizabeth B. Court says her landlord is "trying to get me to move out to make more money."

Court is 60 years old, has been laid off by MIT twice, and has lived in her apartment for 30 years.

She is the only person left in her building since the end of rent control, and has seen "at least 25" of her friends leave Cambridge because of an increase in housing costs.

EZF has helped boost her morale and teach her different tactics, Court says, and she has responded by volunteering.

Court is now facing rising rents while trying to get by on an unemployment check.

"I've realized how terrible it is to lose your home," she says. "It's terribly frightening."