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Homes Not Jails vs. HUD




Come support Homes Not Jails DC (HNJ) in court this Thursday, November 13th at 4pm at 500 Indiana Ave. NW, room 516 on the fifth floor. HNJ continues to face US Housing and Urban Development in a case over the abandoned building at 1959 H St. NE that HNJ began repairing with a family experiencing homelessness on Thanksgiving day of 2000.

After putting much effort into salvaging the building to create low-income housing, HNJ secured the involvement of a section 8 housing developer, who created a work plan to develop the building as low-income housing, contingent upon HUD’s relinquishing the title. Though HUD had indicated that they would turn the building over if HNJ found a developer who could see the project through, they reneged at the last minute, with a HUD official saying in court that they didn’t want to “set an example.” Instead, HUD continued in their effort to evict the building.

Previous coverage:

  • Let's Give Thanks for What We Take: Housing Takeover on Thanksgiving, Audio interview (Nov 2000)
  • Takeover of 304 K St NE (Feb 2001)
  • Firehouse Takeover to Support Women's Shelter (Jun 2001)
  • HUD owns hundreds of abandoned buildings throughout DC that it sells at market-rate, often to wealthy developers. While people without housing are literally freezing on DC’s streets, many of these abandoned HUD-owned buildings are heated throughout the winter to prevent the pipes from freezing as they await being auctioned off to developers. In this way, HUD is using tax dollars to benefit the wealthy, instead of using them to fulfill its real mission- to ensure that everyone has housing. Over 3.5 million people in the US will experience homelessness this year, with over a third of those people being children.

    Come and show your support for increasing low-income housing here in DC and throughout the US. Demand that HUD “set an example” of what a real federal housing agency is supposed to be doing.

    Also, learn more about the Bringing America Home Act, a national bill to end homelessness, at www.bringingamericahome.org.
     
     
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    Comments

    Re: Homes Not Jails vs. HUD

    I would rather see the abandoned buildings in my home city turned over to wealthy developers, instead of becoming drug infested, crime ridden dens of ill repute. Hell, look at the public housing DC already has. Building more of shit isn't going to turn it into gold.
     

    Re: Homes Not Jails vs. HUD

    BushLicker Jamal wrote :
    dens of ill repute
    ----
    Just like the White House is now.
     

    Re: Homes Not Jails vs. HUD

    When the rent on an apartment in DC is double the income of a 40 hour a week minimum wage worker, when over half of all homeless people in the city work full time, we have one huge problem.

    Squatting abandoned buildings is a "sweat equity" solution that does not require a massive infusion of cash to the DC governemt for construction.

    If you don't like squatters, pay for enough public housing to eliminate the need for it! Otherwise the people who are being made homeless (like Renny) by the rich whites who are occupying Washington (just as they are occupying Iraq) have no choice but to do whatever is necessary to survive.

    NOBODY has an obligation to lay down and die to "get out of the way" of "redevelopment"-not now, and not EVER!
     

    Re: Homes Not Jails vs. HUD

    this is the way things need to be! take back the streets. Homes not Jails is so awesome!
     

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