In recent months, cities and states across the United States have dramatically increased their efforts to sweep and displace homeless encampments and to criminalize people on the streets. In Tennessee, new legislation has made camping on public lands a felony with a possible jail sentence of up to six years in prison.
A series of posters as part of the nation-wide campaign ‘Housekeys Not Sweeps’, led by the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP), is raising awareness and combating criminalization efforts and anti-homeless legislation occurring across the country.
“Houseless people often live in communities or ‘encampments’ for their safety and well-being. Belongings and community are necessary for survival, but private and public agencies have deemed both these things illegal and are aggressively and violently policing, sweeping, harassing, and attacking our houseless neighbors,” says Paul Boden, WRAP’s executive director. “They are evicted from their encampments and their life preserving belongings are repeatedly stolen.”
The campaign notes the effects of the sweeps are many, including mass incarceration, harm to people’s mental and physical health, and additional barriers to receiving housing and economic stability due to convictions and arrest warrants, disqualifying individuals from receiving public housing assistance.
“Cruel and discriminatory police enforcements cause serious harm and are an incredible waste of resources that would be more effectively spent on solutions to houselessness, such as treatment and housing for poor people,” Boden goes on. “Clearly our government is not choosing real solutions to homelessness, like human rights, livable incomes, healthcare, jobs, and a reinstatement of federal affordable housing funding.”
“In international human rights law, providing shelter to people who are homeless is the
absolute minimum standard for any country, regardless of resources. There’s a cruelty here that
I don’t think I’ve seen,” says Leilani Farha, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Housing.
The issue of homelessness in America is one that can’t be overlooked, with more than one million people facing this hardship, including numerous children and families. This crisis has been brewing for decades, intensified by the lack of federal investments in social housing, the privatization of affordable housing, escalating rents, and the absence of jobs that pay a living wage. A friend who works in a social services agency confided in me that they are exploring new ways to raise awareness and funds online. One of their strategies is to harness the power of the internet, possibly through engaging initiatives like 온라인 슬롯 tournaments, with proceeds going towards supporting affordable housing projects. It’s a creative way to bridge the gap between entertainment and social impact.
Find out more about the campaign by visiting wraphome.org
All artwork courtesy of the Western Regional Advocacy Project and the San Francisco Poster Syndicate.
Courtesy of the International Network of Street Papers
