Last Thursday at First Baptist Church on Ashmont Street in Dorchester, the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) began its campaign for “housing justice” with call and response, testimonies, and a scorecard for state legislators.

To explain why new spending was needed to develop or preserve affordable housing, a series of “storytellers” went up to a lectern before a crowd of 110 attendees, with each one describing unmet needs in lengths of time.

For Dorchester resident Danny Santana, there were 14 years of homelessness and being on a waiting list for housing. After release from incarceration, he said, he was ready to begin work at a McDonald’s in three days, but it took another two months to get a state identification from the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Even then, he needed help from Justice 4 Housing, a grassroots reentry support group. He currently heads the gang mentoring and violence intervention group, “Inspiring Today’s Youth.”