–December 10, 2009

Organizations from across Los Angeles descended upon City Hall demanding that policy makers respect their human right to adequate housing.

In a gathering that was truly reflective of multi-cultural L.A. residents took to the streets on the International Day of Human Rights. Members from KIWA, SAN, LA CAN, Union de Vecinos, Comunidad Presente, CES, Esperanza Housing, SAJE, Coalition LA, and Homeless Healthcare took to the street to highlight domestic human rights violations.

The action comes on the heels of a recent United Nations mission investigating housing conditions in the United States. While in Los Angeles Raquel Rolnik, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, stated that she indeed saw human rights violations in our city. The United Nations will release findings in March 2010 in their official report. Stay tuned because there will be many more activities in the months before the release.

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Happy Holidays.

community connect 34 final layout

Please view the attached letter and form for more information about donating to LA CAN as we end 2009. There is also a unique opportunity for donors of color to DOUBLE their donation – whatever you give us, the 21st Century Foundation will match!! 2009 Holiday Appeal Letter

Amid a global economic recession precipitated by the U.S. sub-prime lending crisis, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing recently conducted the office’s first official mission in the U.S. to investigate the foreclosure crisis, growing homelessness, and concerns around low-income housing with respect to public housing and rental assistance.

Raquel Rolnik, The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, was recently given a very thorough tour of Los Angeles and outlying areas. The two-day affair included 1) a housing briefing at the newly opened Legal Aid Foundation Office on South Broadway Blvd which covered issues facing public housing residents, foreclosures, slum housing, homelessness and criminalization; 2) a bus tour that made it possible for the rapporteur to fully witness and absorb the realities faced by marginally housed and homeless residents of Los Angeles; and, 3) a town hall meeting designed to utilize creative story-telling methods alongside personal testimony to further breathe life into the millions of untold stories of housing hardships.

Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will present the findings of her mission to the UN General Assembly in a public report on the human right to housing in the U.S.  She also released a press statement [please read earlier post] that in part had this to say about the United States housing crisis:

“The number of homeless continues to rise with increasing numbers of working families and individuals finding themselves on the streets,” highlighted the UN expert after visiting Washington DC , New York , Chicago , New Orleans , Los Angeles , Pacoima and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. “The economic crisis has exacerbated this situation.”

While LA CAN was selected nationally to serve as the City Chair to host this historic visit nothing could have been accomplished without the work of the following organizations:

•     Beyond Shelter, Inc.

•     Coalition for Economic Survival

•     Coalition LA

•     Comunidad Presente

•     Esperanza Community Housing

•     Housing Long Beach

•     Indigenous Support Black Mesa AZ communities

•     Korean Immigrant Worker Alliance (KIWA)

•     LA Neighborhood Housing Services

•     Lamp Community

•     Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA)

•     Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness

•     Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN)

Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services

•     Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County

•     People Organized for Westside Renewal (POWER)

•     Skid Row Housing Trust

•     South Asian Network

•     St. John’s Well Child and Family Center

•     Union de Vecinos

http://bit.ly/12sNxX Check out photos of the briefing held at Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles

Also, financial support for the LA planning committee and visit was provided by The California Endowment and Liberty Hill Foundation. Without this support it would have been impossible to bring great work and great organizations together.

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UNITED NATIONS Press Release

“Millions lack access to affordable and adequate housing in the U.S.”

WASHINGTON D.C. (8 November 2009) – The UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, warned at the end of her official visit to the United States of America that, “Millions of people in the U.S. are spending high percentages of their income to make their monthly rent and mortgage payment, face foreclosure or eviction, and live in overcrowded and substandard conditions.”

“The number of homeless continues to rise with increasing numbers of working families and individuals finding themselves on the streets,” highlighted the UN expert after visiting Washington DC , New York , Chicago , New Orleans , Los Angeles , Pacoima and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. “The economic crisis has exacerbated this situation.”

The U.S. has a longstanding and established history of commitment to decent, safe, and affordable housing, dating back to the National Housing Act of 1934, though certain groups such as minorities and Native Americans have not benefitted on an equal basis. Federal funding for low income housing has been cut over the past decades leading to decreased stock and quality of subsidized housing.

During this time, significant efforts have been taken to reshape the face of subsidized rental and public housing in the U.S., often demolishing public housing and promoting mixed income communities. “Though a good goal, implementation of mixed income developments in many cases leads to displacement, discriminatory practices and a reduction of the stock of affordable and adequate housing for low-income households,” stressed Ms. Rolnik.

Ms. Rolnik is pleased to note that the new Administration is thinking critically and broadly to confront and solve the affordable housing crisis in the country, reversing decades of budget cuts and proposing large additional budgetary resources to housing. A wider range of permanent options for affordable housing, particularly for the most vulnerable, is required. In designing and implementing these options, affected residents and community members should be partners in the planning and decision making process, as required by international human rights norms.

During her 18 day fact-finding mission, the UN expert met with senior Government officials at the local, state, and federal level, at the Department of State and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), among others. She held public town hall meetings in each city visited, and engaged in extensive discussions with many representatives from a strong network of non governmental organizations, hundreds of residents, and people experiencing homelessness. ‘Housing is a human right,’ was the rallying cry heard throughout these public meetings.

The Special Rapporteur is grateful to the government of the United States for inviting her to undertake this visit and appreciates the Administration’s openness and support, and welcomes its commitment to reform policies.

Raquel Rolnik (Brazil) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context by the United Nations Human Rights Council, in May 2008. As Special Rapporteur, she is independent from any government or organization and serves in her individual capacity. An architect and urban planner, Rolnik has extensive experience in the area of the right to housing and urban policies.

On January 19 and 20, 2010, LA CAN members and friends will be traveling to San Francisco to join with allies throughout the West Coast in calling for housing justice!!

Check out the flyer below and watch the blog for more updates.  We hope you will join us!  We will be asking for a small donation per person, but no one will be excluded due to lack of funds.

Jan 20 Flyer WRAP-HUD Action

United Way Study Shows Once Again that Permanent Supportive Housing Saves Money in Los Angeles County

A report released by United Way reaffirms the resounding message that we have repeated with our allies over and over again, that permanent supportive housing is more cost efficient than the way the City and County treats (and incarcerates) homeless people now.  By analyzing the cost of substance abuse, physical health, mental health, criminal justice and housing for four previously chronically homeless men and women, researchers from USC’s Center for Community Health Studies found that permanent supportive housing resulted in a savings cost of almost 43% (United Way, 3).  For the four individuals, the cost of living for two years as a homeless person added up to $187,288, whereas life in supportive housing for two years was $107,032.

As too many homeless men and women know too well, especially downtown, the criminal justice system is one of the key means of “dealing” with homelessness in LA—for the four individuals from the survey encounters with law enforcement over two years totaled a cost of $23,361.  While some of the encounters were for alcohol and drug related crime, others were quality of life issues such as sleeping on the street.  In the downtown community specifically, the so-called Safer Cities Initiative has worsened the financial burden of being homeless and poor, with expensive minor infraction tickets, leading to outstanding warrants and jail time. The criminalization of homelessness and poverty has many other hidden aspects, besides the explicit cost of jail time—incarceration can lead to disqualification from many government programs such as subsidized housing, food stamps and other basic necessity services.

In addition to costs from the criminal justice system, the homeless individuals also needed medical attention.  This included hospital visits for the removal of a kidney stone and a bladder infection (at a cost of $20,250), and all of the study participants visited the emergency a total of 19 times totaling $7,885.  The report demonstrated how the necessity of receiving health services (physical and substance abuse) dramatically decreased from $26,060 to $830 and $25,457 to $6,002 respectively.  In the context of exorbitant health care costs shared by all, it is important to take the preventative measures to reduce costs for all.

More importantly than what simply the numbers reveal is how permanent housing can dramatically improve the lives of homeless men, women and families.  As one of the individuals explained to an interviewer, he “began to feel like he belonged” and now “finally feels like he’s home” (3).

Housing is a human right. Health is a human right. Please join us in solidarity for calling for the right solutions to the housing crisis and health care nightmare in LA.

Homeless Cost Survey. Rep. United Way, Oct 2009. http://www.unitedwayla.org/getinformed/news/Documents/HomelessCostStudy_09_r2_v3.pdf

Unity in the Hood

We wanted to express our sincere thank you for your strong showing of solidarity against the Safer Cities Initiative over the past two days – and a special thanks goes to those of you who are on our Safer Cities Committee.  Please also share with your friends, colleagues and members that joined us that we are not reaching with this email.

Your participation embodies the bold resistance needed to swing the pendulum of change in our direction, far left of center. Your insistence that the creed, “…and justice for all”  be truly recognized for all regardless of economic status, race, or gender affirms that a better day is coming. Your bravery in speaking truth to power on our terms is commendable.  We and all of our members recognize and value your commitment to justice.

International Symbol of Distress, we are under siege!

On Monday night, about 150 people joined us throughout the evening as we claimed space and celebrated community strength on the steps of Central Division.  On Tuesday morning, after a few dozen people rallied and distributed citations around City Hall, more than 100 people gathered in Chambers to address the Council.  Councilmember Perry, acting president, promptly skipped over public comment when she saw the number of people there to speak out against SCI and her failed leadership in her district.  While her stalling tactic caused us to lose a handful of people, most everyone was able to stay.  After waiting patiently for a reasonable time, we refused to be blatantly ignored – we loudly and strongly demanded that public comment be heard and it was.

LA CAN members and staff were really energized by the two-day action.  We were able to highlight community leadership and resistance, re-activate old members and gain new ones, and stand together as a broad Los Angeles community fighting criminalization of poverty.   Also, as a result of our actions in Council Chambers, Councilmember Rosendahl called for a review of the Safer Cities Initiative. While small in some respects. this opens some new doors of possibility thus widening our opportunities to finally stop the occupation and human rights violations occurring daily in our homes and community.

Today we celebrate, tomorrow we continue the fight and we are honored to have you by our side.  End SCI Now!

P.S. Below are a couple of the news clips, and it was also covered on npr and other radio, as well as Channel 7.  This is the first year that the media covered only LA CAN and allies’ perspective on SCI, instead of solely our response to the City’s propaganda!!  We’re going to be putting pics and videos on our blog in the coming days, so check it out at cangress.wordpress.com.

LAPD, Los Angeles Poverty Department, is in the house

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cityhall-protest-2009sep30,0,1062625.story

http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_13444226?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com

The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

Stop the SCI Marathon

Power concedes nothing without a demand.

–Frederick Douglas

Tent City at LAPD Central Division:  September 28, 2009

Meet at 7:00 PM at LA CAN office (530 S. Main Street) OR meet us at 8:00PM at Central Division – 6^th and Maple Streets

City Hall Accountability:   September 29, 2009

Meet at 8:00 AM at LA CAN office (530 S. Main Street) OR meet us at 9:00 AM at City Hall – 1^st and Main Streets

Background

For the past three years the City of Los Angeles has opted to gentrify downtown Los Angeles regardless of the financial or moral costs involved. Refusing to acknowledge the long-standing and thriving community that exists, they instead moved for total demolition of homes, culture, and life. What the city never anticipated, however, was the community building the power needed to fight back, and build power is what we did.  While we have secured many policy victories so far, we have also shouldered a stunning number of casualties as a result of the brutal and inhumane Safer Cities Initiative. This flawed war on poverty has indeed captured its share of political prisoners, prisoners that we must free.  Stop SCI now!

“It’s not abnormal for the DA to have a policy. But this policy is about targeting the homeless in that area because the city is redeveloping that area. It’s a policy to get people off the streets and into state prison, jumping right over rehab and jail.”  Public Defender—Daily Journal, January 29, 2007

Monday: Bring your tents, sleeping bags,

flashlights, and flags.