Chance Martin: How to Fight Back -- ORGANIZE!
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The information gathered in this manner directly drives the work. This is how poor and homeless people bring their agendas to the group.
In order to directly involve homeless and poor people at all levels of organizing -- including conducting outreach, building an advocacy agenda, developing policies and programs, and bringing forth litigation when appropriate -- empowerment and leadership development of homeless and low-income people must be fundamental to our work. Only by recognizing homeless peoples’ inherent strengths, and further equipping them with specialized skills and knowledge, can they assume the leading role in the fight to end the abuse and violation of their civil and human rights. Primary importance must be placed on developing these skills, providing the training of our constituency, and on informing homeless people on their rights and on how to protect themselves against abuse.
The programs and advocacy agenda are designed through developing collaboration between homeless people and providers of social, health care, housing, employment, and legal services, city employees, as well as concerned community members. Using documented information gathered through outreach, and broad community participation and expertise, this collaboration creates ways to change ineffective and abusive policies. These coalitions can coordinate the design and development of new homeless programs and be the mechanism for developing strategy and making decisions to address the needs of homeless people.
This unique organizing model fuses outreach, advocacy, direct action organizing, and policy and program design to eradicate civil rights attacks against homeless people and to work toward permanent solutions to poverty and homelessness.
Local Fights and Relationships to National Campaigns
Increased pressure is being placed on homeless individuals and families. Self-interested local politicians, businesses and community members have responded with punitive, police-centered tactics to address the issues of homelessness. They have targeted the survival actions of homeless people under the rubric of "Quality of Life" issues and tens of thousands of homeless people have been harassed, cited, fined, arrested, and had their property illegally confiscated. In order to effectively address these inhumane policies, we need to directly confront those responsible for them.
These futile and unmerciful policies blame and punish many of us just for being poor. Prejudice against poor and homeless people is increasingly accepted. We end up fighting each other over the crumbs the system throws us instead of banding together and growing stronger. In our organizing, we must target those corporate and business interests and local governments that promote legislation in the interests of the rich. The local tactics of criminalizing homelessness must be confronted. Local governments must learn that if they continue to violate the civil rights of homeless people, then they can expect there will be a fight every time.
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