The 10 Most Notable Homelessness Stories of 2009

The End Homelessness Blog on Change.org has listed “The 10 Most Notable Homelessness Stories of 2009.” Included is the UN Housing Mission to the United States. Take a look at the whole list.

It’s 2010, and People Are Still Writing About the UN Housing Mission

News of the first official visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing continues to ripple through communities in the United States and even abroad. Even though Special Rapporteur Rolnik has departed, it feels as though her mission continues. Here’s what people have been writing since the last posting:

General

Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign: The Criminalization of American Homelessness: Testimony presented to UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik

InforUm: The Right to Housing Movement and the U.S. Tour of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Raquel Rolnik

Colorado

Colorado Pols: A Message to Copenhagen From Big Mountain

Los Angeles

Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance: United Nations Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik on the Right to Adequate Housing visited LA

LA CAN: International Human Rights Day

LA Beez: Activists Put Housing Demands Under City Hall Tree

New Mexico

Counter Punch: A Message to Copenhagen From Big Mountain: Leave It in the Ground

Seattle

Real Change News: U.N. investigates U.S.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Guardian: A Message to Copenhagen From Big Mountain: Leave It in the Ground

St Louis

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Homeless and unemployed are most vulnerable to the great recession

Columbuzz: Homeless and unemployed are most vulnerable to the great recession

Continuing Media Coverage of the UN Housing Mission

More domestic media on the housing mission

Friends of Leonard Peltier: Preliminary findings by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing

Narcosphere: Return to Alcatraz: 40 Years of Resistance

Common Man News: New York City homeless population at an all-time high

Talk to St. Ambrose: Housing is a Human Right

Arab American News: U.N. investigator probes U.S. housing crisis

International media on the housing mission

Russia
RT Video: “Nine million under threat of becoming homeless in the US”

Netherlands
Radio Netherlands Worldwide: Homelessness on the rise in the US

Hungary (A magyar)
HVG Online: Hajléktalanok a világban

Brazil (em português)
Vermelho: Crise habitacional dos EUA está sob investigação da ONU

Turkey (Türk)
Dünya Bülteni: BM: ABD evsizlerini düşünmüyor

France (en français)
Toulouse7: Etats Unis : des millions de personnes victimes de loyers trop élevés

Mexico (en español)
La Jornada: EU, en la mira de la ONU por crisis de vivienda

So Much To Be Thankful For

 

I’m thankful that I was able to overcome homelessness 

I’m thankful for the ability to challenge elected and appointed officials in New York City and around the country to end homelessness by eliminating the root causes of this social illness

I’m thankful that I’ve been able to share my experiences with others suffering from the effects of homelessness

I’m thankful to be a member of Picture the Homeless and to lead homeless people in the process to educate the public, to change media stereotypes and to build relationships with allies

I’m thankful that so many people in this city recognize that the work done by Picture the Homeless is important and I’m thankful for the many ways people have shown their gratitude

I’m thankful to be involved in many coalitions and to work with some great organizers in the social justice movement

I’m thankful I’ve been able to connect with New York City’s historical social justice movement

I’m thankful to have met people like Chino Garcia, Mickey Melendez and Frank Morales

I’m thankful that New York City’s academic community has embraced and supported the work I do, the work of Picture the Homeless, the work of the Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights and the work of Right to the City alliance

I’m thankful I’ve had the opportunity to meet Ashraf Casseem of the Western Cape Anti-Eviction campaign

I’m thankful, Picture the Homeless has a relationship with the Shack Dwellers in South Africa and I’m happy I had the chance to raise the story of homeless people in Budapest Hungary and discrimination of Roma people to an international level

I’m thankful that New York City had the faith to allow me to lead the first official visit of a UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing

I’m thankful that Raquel Rolnik (the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing) validated what many of us have been saying for years

I’m thankful for the relationship I have with organizers around the country, especially Sam Jackson of Mayday New Orleans, JR Fleming of the Chicago Coalition to Protect Public Housing and Becky Dennison from LACAN

I’m thankful that I have a friend and mentor in Max Rameau of Take Back the Land

Finally, I’m thankful that I have been encouraged, tutored and mentored by two exceptional sisters/women of color, Brenda Stokely of New York Solidarity Coalition with Katrina and Rita Survivors-Tiffany Gardner of the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative

I have so much to be thankful for and I am truly blessed 

 

Unity in the struggle,
Peace in the Middle East,
Power to the People,

Rob

 

Robert Robinson
Picture the Homeless-Board Member
Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights-Member
Right to the City Alliance-Member
US Human Rights Network-Member
Take Back the Land National-Member

Chicago Eviction Blockade …

Hi,

I’m posting an email that went out from Chicago about their recent anti-eviction defense.  See below for more info.

Rob

Chicago Eviction Blockade

Chicago Eviction Blockade

Hi friends,

The eviction blockade was a big success, thanks to everyone who turned out. But the struggle is far from over for Lenise and the rest of the families facing eviction this holiday season. Though CHA had indicated on Tuesday that they would ask management to work out a payment plan, now they are denying this and we may have to set the blockade back up at a moment’s notice.

How you can help:

  • Call the Chicago Housing Authority at (312) 742-8500 (press 1 then 0 to get an operator and ask for Lewis Jordan) and saying “I support Lenise Forrest, stop her from being evicted from 933 N. Cambridge by making management set up a payment plan now!” Continue reading Chicago Eviction Blockade …

The misery of homelessness in the world’s richest country

The Guardian recently published commentary by Sasha Abramsky on the Special Rapporteur on Housing’s visit to the United States.

He writes:

Last week’s United Nations’ findings on America’s homeless crisis couldn’t have been more timely or more depressing. Three years into the post-housing bubble era, special rapporteur Raquel Rolnik detailed a growing crisis in which the poorest of the poor are, literally, left out in the cold while hundreds of billions of dollars are being pumped into propping up the broader pillars of the economy.

The combination of 16 million workers unemployed with an unprecedented housing market meltdown and collapse in state and local finances has magnified the misery of homelessness in the world’s richest country.

Read the rest at the Guardian.

Final Thoughts on the U.N. Housing Mission

By Rob Robinson, Picture the Homeless
Friday, November 13, 2009

The eighteen day visit of Raquel Rolnik, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, came to an end Sunday November 8th in Washington DC. All the city chairs came to DC, including Sam Jackson from Mayday New Orleans, JR Fleming from Chicago’s Coalition to Protect Public Housing, Becky Dennison from Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN) and yours truly Rob Robinson from Picture the Homeless in New York City.

Raquel Rolnik really appreciated the hard work that went into the town hall meetings and site visits and acknowledged how rewarding it was for her to hear directly from the community. She validated the social concerns of urban communities throughout the country with respect to public housing and she stated that such problems exist even outside of public housing. Ms. Rolnik spoke of discrimination that exists in the US even when there are laws in place that forbid such practices and how discrimination often leads to the very folks that should benefit from public housing, being excluded from housing. She spoke of homelessness, how it continues to rise and how the economic crisis has exacerbated the situation. The Rapporteur expressed her concern with respect to the living conditions she witnessed in the Native American area of Pine Ridge SD. I think all the city chairs agree that Ms. Rolnik gets it. If housing is a human right, then it’s obvious that the US is not living up to the obligations of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, signed in 1948.

After the Rapporteur spoke, we heard from a representative of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) who shared many of Raquel’s concerns but made no real commitments. Was this more of the same old government lip service?

Then it was time for the hot panel of the National Forum on the Human Right to Housing Conference. The city chairs along with Tiffany Gardner, from the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI), constituted the panel. Our biggest supporter, our leader and our champion, Tiffany Gardner, opened our panel. Tiffany spoke of the importance of movement building and how the directly impacted should be the voice of the movement. We discussed that one of the roles of policy and research oriented organizations should be to support organizations on the ground and how NESRI will continue to support the efforts of the city chairs and their communities. One by one, we the city chairs spoke of how we organized the visits in each of our cities. Throughout our dialogue, there was a common theme of unity. We all thought that the visit needed to be more than just a token gesture towards addressing the housing crisis and collectively agreed that we should take the Rapporteur’s report and use it to drive the Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights.

In eighteen days Raquel Rolnik was able to document the problems we have been working on for years. Since all the city chairs are a part of the Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights we are looking forward to the release of the Rapporteur’s report in March 2010 to drive forward the demands of the campaign. We are gearing up for a strong spring and summer and if all goes well we will join the Rapporteur in Brazil for the World Urban Forum. Special thanks to Jane Moisan, Eric Tars and Maria Foscarinis of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty for bringing us to the conference. Ain’t no stopping us now!!!

News Roundup 11/13/09

The Guardian: UN investigator accuses US of shameful neglect of homeless

The Guardian: UN meets homeless victims of American property dream

Times-Picayune: U.N. official studies housing shortage

Amsterdam News: UN special rapporteur sounds alarm on housing in America

West Orlando News: UN Official: Millions lack access to Adequate Housing in the US

Louisiana Justice Institute: Preliminary Findings Released by UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing

Change.org: United Nations Says U.S. has “Shamefully Neglected” its Homeless

Michael Moore.com: Millions in the United States lack access to affordable, adequate housing – UN

Free Speech Radio News: UN expert says Americans face “serious challenges” finding affordable housing

Philippines:
Inquirer Global Nation: Millions lack affordable housing in US—UN

Denmark (i dansk):
Kristeligt Dagblad: FN-udsending: USA forsømmer de hjemløse

The UN Special Rapporteur’s Preliminary Findings

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

Raquel Rolnik

Mission to the United States of America
(22 October to 8 November 2009)

7 November 2009

I was welcomed everywhere I visited by government officials, civil society and residents themselves in communities across the nation. My feeling after this trip is that everyone is engaged in trying to effectively address the serious affordable housing crisis that the nation is facing. I encountered a strong network of vibrant communities and non profit organizations, a highly organized civil society and committed government officials working to optimize housing policies and practices.

The US 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. Despite this, millions of people living in the US today are facing serious challenges in accessing affordable and adequate housing. These are issues which have long been faced by the poorest people in the U.S. and today are affecting a greater portion of society.

A new face of homelessness is appearing with increasing numbers of working families and individuals finding themselves on the streets. The subprime mortgage crisis increased an already large gap between the supply and demand of affordable housing. The economic crisis which followed, led to increased unemployment and even greater need for affordable housing. This gap will continue to grow due to predatory equity and the impending foreclosures of multi-family buildings. The Obama Administration has already committed significant resources to housing, addressing mortgage modification programmes, neighborhood enhancement and emergency recovery initiatives through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Additional funds for housing have been requested in the fiscal year 2010 budget.

Federal funding for low income housing has been cut over the past decades leading to decreased stock and quality of subsidized housing. At the same time, a new housing policy based on mixed income developments on public housing sites was promoted, especially in those sites located on prime locations within cities. There are many instances in which housing projects were demolished and land made available to developers, without replacement housing being made available to tenants. Some of this land has remained vacant for years.

The policy goal of creating diverse and inclusive mixed neighborhoods is a positive one. However, an approach to housing redevelopment has overly emphasized housing as real estate rather than as a basic social need. This approach has led to displacement of public housing residents, disruption of families and the social fabric of neighborhoods. Displaced residents often need to move to other subsidized housing in neighborhoods which are as distressed as their original one, or are discriminated against in the new neighborhood. Specific complaints I received during this course of this visit include units being demolished without sufficient mechanisms for tenants to find comparable housing in the interim; the period of redevelopment has been much longer than forecasted leading to more distress and lack of services for remaining residents in the projects; insufficient efforts were made to keep track of tenants in order to offer them housing once redevelopments were complete; and the number of units re-built did not match the number of units demolished.

The social problems which seem to be concentrated in public housing projects are complex and clearly do not occur only in public housing projects. These social problems often overshadow the fact that public housing developments are also communities of families, neighbors and friends with long term social networks. The stigmatization of public housing and government assisted housing residents has led to residents being treated with contempt and disrespect for their basic human dignity. As in the case with policies for homelessness, criminalization has been the main response to social problems in subsidized housing, instead of a focus on protection for those who are most vulnerable. In designing solutions, tenants, residents, and community members have been excluded from decision making processes regarding their housing and wider communities.

Discrimination

Strong anti-discrimination legislation exists within the U.S. both at the national and local levels. However, discriminatory criteria are utilized for eligibility for subsidized housing, such as drug testing, credit histories, and criminal records. One-strike policies which lead to evictions if any member of the family (even if not a resident) has a criminal charge, even if that charge did not lead to a conviction, are highly discriminatory. Public housing residents are required to contribute mandatory hours of community service; while homeowners who benefit from tax exemptions have no such requirement. Discriminatory lending practices have targeted lower-income groups and minorities.

Accountability, transparency and participation

The public is not sufficiently informed of housing opportunities. Residents of redeveloped public housing are not given adequate information and opportunities to meaningfully participate in the planning, decision-making, and implementation of programs and policies that directly affects them.

Public responsibility to provide for the needs of the most vulnerable

Public resources were used to subsidize homeownership for high income purchasers. Public land and subsidized credits has been available for private developers, without adequate compensation and sufficient quantities of affordable housing for the most vulnerable.

Native American housing

Native American housing on the reservations represents some of the poorest conditions in the US. I witnessed overcrowding, lack of sufficient infrastructure and unsanitary conditions.

Looking forward

I am pleased to note that the new Administration is thinking critically and broadly about the housing issues in the US and ways to confront and solve the affordable housing crisis

Preliminary recommendations:

The present affordable housing crisis is an opportunity for policy reform. Such reform should be based on a broad national consultation process in order to hear tenants’ voices and concerns and to collect innovative responses. A comprehensive housing survey is also necessary to assess housing needs, taking into account the specificities of different groups and locations.

  • Public resources should focus and provide for the needs of the most vulnerable, including homeless people.
  • The definition of homelessness needs to be further expanded to include all those who truly lack adequate and affordable housing
  • The federal government provides much higher levels of subsidies to high income homeowners via tax exemptions as compared to subsidies for low income housing assistance. Low income housing assistance should receive higher funding.
  • The criteria to distribute federal housing assistance should be based on a real survey of housing needs and should be distributed on a per capita basis.
  • In some cases the geographic area used to define the Area Median Income (AMI) should be reexamined, so that income threshold criteria actually lead to access to affordable housing.
  • Preserve and upgrade the stock of subsidized housing, while maintaining them at affordable levels.

o Ensure one for one replacement of public housing units within the same area
o Proper maintenance is required in order to address widespread health issues in rental
housing caused by pest infestation and mold
o Legislative mechanisms should be passed in order to encourage the extension of expiring
Section 8 units as well as other expiring affordable housing programmes with private
landlords
o Legislative mechanisms should be passed to enhance the ability of preservations
purchasers (e.g. city, community development organizations, non-profit developers etc.) to
preserve, upgrade and increase affordable housing stock.

  • New housing should be available for displaced residents before any unit is demolished.
  • Following demolition or rehabilitation, residents right to return must be ensured to the area where new developments are located.
  • Tenant protection legislation should be further strengthened for renters of foreclosed properties.
  • The legislation which allows for discriminatory criteria for access to subsidized housing and grounds for eviction should be repealed.
  • Create mechanisms to improve real, direct participation of affected tenants in planning and decision making processes. Resident Councils should be directly elected by residents and not appointed by housing agencies.
  • Public private partnerships of housing developments should include residents at all stages of planning, implementation, and decision-making. Committees to oversee redevelopments should consist of one third residents; one third government; and one third private sector.
  • The Making Home Affordable Program is addressing foreclosure prevention. Further measures are necessary to address at-risk mortgages in the medium and long term.
  • Significantly increased funding is required for Native American housing on the reservations
  • Culturally appropriate housing models are required for Native American housing, for example the cultural adequacy of cluster housing has been questioned.
  • The US should ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

UN Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik Leaves United States

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

Read the United Nations press release here or here.

En français: Etats-Unis : Des millions de gens victimes de loyers trop élevés, selon un expert

From the press release:

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.”