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Ft. Lauderdale City Officials: Drop the charges against 90-year-old Arnold Abbott for feeding the homeless |
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Tag Archives: white people
Stop the no blankets for the homeless ordinance! Support change.org
Mayor Hayward endorses amendments to ordinance
Petition Organizer
For the first time in recent memory, parts of Florida will be under a state of emergency due to winter weather. Beginning tomorrow, temperatures will drop as freezing rain and sleet move in, roadways will become icy, and snowfall is expected. All of this will happen on top of already wet ground, due to rain happening throughout the day today.
However, city officials are refusing to examine an ordinance they passed last year making it illegal for the homeless to even use a blanket to cover themselves. Last week at the regular council meeting, the council members were requested by members of the public and another council person, to review the ordinance and vote in a more humane way. They refused.
Two years ago, when the city council first considered these ordinances at the request of the mayor, and hundreds of people showed up in protest, the city refused to listen citing, “The silent majority.” that wasn’t present as their reason for moving forward on the ordinance.
As this extreme freeze comes into the panhandle, it will be illegal for the homeless to seek shelter from the cold. This is unconscionable and our city leaders have refused to respond to reasonable requests for them to accommodate the homeless in any way. I am asking for everyone on my page to take the time to share this post, write the mayor and council, and forward this to your favorite media outlet.
The city may not listen to us, but hopefully they will listen if people around the world let them know how Pensacola will be viewed if they do not overturn this inhumane ordinance.
Write the mayor: mayorhayward@cityofpensacola.com
Write the council: jcannada-wynn@cityofpensacola.com, mpratt@cityofpensacola.com, pcwu@cityofpensacola.com, smyers@cityofpensacola.com, aterhaar@cityofpensacola.com, ljohnson@cityofpensacola.com, gwingate@cityofpensacola.com, bspencer@cityofpensacola.com, cbare@cityofpensacola.com
Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward endorses proposed amendments to ordinance allowing for blankets. Awaiting council vote on Thursday 13th.
Last year, in an effort to protect the aesthetics, public health, and safety of our community, the City Council adopted an ordinance which prohibits camping on public property. Next week, the Council will consider amending that ordinance to remove the prohibition on the use of cover while sleeping outdoors.
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Homelessness in Seattle ~ a repost a reminder
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“Nobody should have to go through what I went through on the streets. When the shelters fill up and people are left outside, they become vulnerable. We all need to act together to end homelessness because we are all connected.” – Susan Russell, Real Change Vendor
Fact: The 2014 One Night Homeless Count found 3,123 people sleeping outside in King County after the shelters were filled. This was a 14% increase in the unsheltered count from the previous year.
Fact: The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Homeless Education counts at least 6,188 homeless students in King County, a more than 18% increase from 2011-2012.
Fact: According to the City of Seattle’s “Role of Shelter” report, more than 600 non-disabled single adults have languished in emergency shelter for six months or longer.
This is unacceptable. Strategic investments in the following areas will create the new housing and shelter capacity we need to get more people inside now:
Fund Additional Shelter: The more than 3,000 women, men and children that are living outside in King County on any given night deserve an emergency response. Invest immediately in additional shelter to bring at least 500 more people inside before January 2015.
Support Community Partnerships: Provide funding to expand partnerships between faith communities, civic groups and service providers to get more people off the street and ensure that no child or family sleeps outside.
Meet Immediate Basic Needs: Create a flexible discretionary fund for caseworkers to reunite families with bus tickets, get cars out of impound, or take other actions that quickly and inexpensively get people off the street.
Support Creative Housing Options: Provide financial incentives and support to private landlords and homeowners to match people experiencing homelessness with community members who have space to share.
We hereby call upon the Governing Board of the Committee to End Homelessness and our elected representatives in Seattle and King County to allocate the resources required to make 1,000 more unsheltered homeless people safe by 2015.
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Homeless and in College ~~ reminder
.As a formerly homeless young person, I’m so proud to be in my final year attending college. It is estimated that only one out of four homeless youth graduates from high school, so achieving a post-secondary education is quite an accomplishment. However, the journey has not been easy.
I fought through my circumstances to go to college, because I knew that was my best chance for a road out of poverty. Now I’m fighting to make it easier for other young people like me to go to college, too.
The thousands of students who are homeless or foster youth in college often have to worry about where they will live during breaks when campus housing shuts down, often right before midterms or finals. I’ve heard about how some must jump through hoops to “prove” they are homeless every year or risk losing financial aid. And sometimes they cannot qualify for in-state tuition because they have no address. The list of barriers goes on and on, on top of the obvious: it’s really hard to get to college in the first place when you don’t even have a home.
Being homeless in college hasn’t been easy. Other students go home to their families for Christmas, but I would need to spend weeks trying to find a housing plan for the coldest time of year. Sometimes, offers to go home with friends would fall through last minute. Several years, I spent parts or all of school breaks outside or wandering around my city of Grand Rapids.
Finally, I started a successful campaign on Change.org to change my school’s policies about break housing — and I am proud to say that my college, Aquinas College, is now a leader in taking the initiative to develop safe and effective solutions for students like me.
I have seen firsthand how powerful collective action can be, but I have friends who continue to spend their breaks wandering the streets, and I have seen dozens of my fellow homeless students drop out of their studies after encountering traumatic situations. We need to harness that power of collective action now that this crucial legislation has its first real chance of passing Congress.
I am just one student, and there are thousands of young people in your own community who are waiting for their chance to shine. On behalf of all of us, please consider giving us our opportunity to rise above.
Thank you,
Jessie McCormick
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Be a Seed for Change 
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