We Can’t Ignore the Criminalization of Poverty!

WORK FOR A HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS!

“WRAP was created [by the members below] to expose and eliminate the root causes of civil and human rights abuses of people experiencing extreme poverty and homelessness in our communities”

 

 WRAP Members

* Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency      

* Coalition on Homelessness – San Francisco   

* Hayward Community Action Network     

* Los Angeles Community Action Network       

* Right to Survive                    * Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee    

* St. Mary’s Center                 * Street Roots                               * Street Spirit

 

October 24th, 2013

Please don’t forget to add wrap@wraphome.org to your Safe Sender/Primary Email list so that we end up in the right inbox! 

 

WRAP recently launched the Homeless Bill of Rights (HBR) Campaign which seeks to provide a framework for communities to fight back against discriminatory local laws. We believe that people living on the streets deserve support and access to affordable housing, not criminalization for their mere presence on public land. We launched a social-justice-based campaign that will create bills which protect the following rights and prohibit the enforcement of any local laws that violate these rights:    1.     Right to move freely, rest, sleep, & pray and be protected in public spaces without discrimination, 2.     Right to occupy a legally parked vehicle, 3.     Right to share food and eat in public, 4.     Right to legal counsel if being prosecuted, 5.     Right to 24-hour access to “hygiene facilities.”    The core of our HBR campaign is based on our outreach to homeless and poor people, in which we document their experiences with local police and private security. We have recently surveyed 1,276 people in five states and twelve cities. The civil rights violation people are experiencing everywhere are eerily similar. The main “illegal offenses” that homeless people are being harassed & criminalized for include: sleeping 81%, sitting or lying down 78%, and loitering or hanging out 66%.    We are seeing unprecedented campaigns by local municipalities to enact anti-poor people laws. (Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Fresno, Albany, Hayward, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Venice, San Diego, and the list goes on) “Quality of life” ordinances are criminalizing homelessness and preventing people from attaining basic needs such as resting and sleeping. Additionally, with limited resources and funding cuts, poor people have very little support and are faced with numerous barriers which make escaping homelessness impossible.    The time has come for a renewed national movement to protect the human and civil rights of poor and homeless people. WRAP is engaged in community organizing, research, public education, advocacy, and direct action efforts to build the power to defeat misguided housing legislation and overturn discriminatory “quality of life” laws.    Learn more about our Homeless Bill of Rights Campaign.

Do you represent an organization working for social justice and equality? If yes, please endorse our Homeless Bill of Rights Campaign in California and Oregon!   Click here to download the form. Launching Los Angeles the Homeless Bill of Rights Campaign to End Criminalization Albany has an obligation to do a better job for the homeless   October 22, 2013 By: Paul Boden  Over the past decades, as federal funding for affordable housing nose-dived, the solutions to homelessness have been left to local governments. Though the effort has been far from perfect, almost all Bay Area cities have contributed resources to housing our region’s poorest residents. Many have spent significant city funds. But not Albany.   The city of Albany has no homeless shelter. It has next to nothing on providing affordable housing, for years. It has been out of compliance with state law regarding zoning for affordable housing since at least 1999.   Read More. Oppose the San Francisco Park Closure Proposal!       San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener has introduced legislation to close all of SF’s public parks from 12 midnight until 5 am. This proposal will be voted on by the Board of Supervisor’s on Tuesday October 29th @ 1 pm.   The proposed law would: Fine and jail people who are living/resting in public parks because they have nowhere else to go;- waste precious city funds on signs, fences, and costs of enforcement Further eliminate already diminishing access to public space for ALL. Take Action!  We Need Your Support!   Please make a donation to WRAP and help sustain our efforts to make ending homelessness a national priority!   DONATE NOW and receive COMPLIMENTARY GIFTS

Homeless Bill of Rights New Narratives   September 8, 2013   Editor’s Note: Continuing our coverage of rights-based movements and narratives. Simon Davis-Cohen speaks with Paul Boden about Homeless Bills of Rights.   Paul Boden is Western Regional Advocacy Project ‘s Organizing Director. He became homeless at the age of 16 after the death of his mother. Paul served as Executive Director of San Francisco’s Coalition on Homelessness for 16 years and was a founder of the Community Housing Partnership, a nationally recognized permanent housing corporation with optional supportive services. He has received dozens of community awards during the last twenty-five years and recognition from the city and county of San Francisco, the State of California, and the Congress of the United States. Paul regularly writes articles and op-eds and travels throughout the country giving talks and trainings.   Read More. Connect with our members’ campaign in Oregon! Join their lists and endorse their Bill.      Oregon Campaign Goals: Pass a Homeless Bill of Rights in the state of Oregon (introduce the Homeless Bill of Rights into the Oregon State Legislature in 2014). Investigate the priorities of the unhoused community Change public perceptions of the unhoused Educate the housed and unhoused about systemic causes of homelessness Connect homelessness to public health Build action teams to achieve incremental victories Mitigate the negative impacts of criminalization ordinances (anti-camping/sit-lie) Build local & statewide allies Download Oregon’s Brochure.   Read More. On South Carolina’s Troubling Criminalization of Homelessness   U.S. Catholic Blog   In our August cover story, author Paula Lomazzi argued that we shouldn’t enact laws and policies that effectively make it a crime to be homeless. Lomazzi, formerly homeless herself and now the director of the Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee, made a compelling argument in favor or community, compassion, and practical solutions to ending homelessness. Our readers agreed, with 67 percent indicating that they would vote against legislation that prohibited sleeping outside in their city.   Read More.  Food Truck That Feeds Homeless Could Be Forced To Move From Streets Of Hollywood    October 16, 2013    The Los Angeles City Council is considering new regulations that could potentially shut down a food truck that has been feeding the hungry on the streets of Hollywood for more than 25 years. The Public Works Committee heard a motion introduced by Councilman Tom LaBonge Wednesday, which urges city departments to consider banning non-commercial food distribution in public rights of way, an initiative that would force the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition to move. Read More.

Western Regional Advocacy Project  (WRAP)     415.621.2533 wrap@wraphome.org   We are sustained through individual donations and generous foundations. We need your support to continue our work and help us stand up for poor and homeless peoples’ civil rights!

WRAP is a 501(c)3 organization.           Donations are tax-deductible.   Donate to WRAP

STAY CONNECTED!

        

Read Full Post »