Last night, thousands of people rallied to Dewey Square to defend the small community that has emerged over the last few months, and the larger idea that it represents. Throughout the day, occupiers were handed a notice to evict, warning us that we would be subject to criminal trespassing if we remained in the park after 11 p.m.
The threat of police action in Dewey Square underscores the daily experience of hundreds of thousands of people who face a “lawful forceful response” — not for locking arms and defending a set of tents, but for attempting to stay in their homes in the face of banks who steadfastly refuse negotiate with them. Here are some sobering statistics:
- Each year, 600,000 families with 1.35 million children experience homelessness in the United States, making up about 30% of the homeless population over the course of a year
- In any given day, researchers estimate that more than 200,000 children have no place to live
- A full time worker earning minimum wage cannot afford a one bedroom unit priced at Fair Market Rent anywhere in the United Stated.
- Federal Support for low income housing has fallen by 40% from 1980-2003
- 15% of all American families and 32% of single parent families lived below the poverty line in 2006
Today we support Homes for Families to protest the lack of affordable housing for the 99%. Join us for a demonstration at 100 Cambridge Street in Boston at 1 p.m. sharp to protest the Department of Housing and Community Development’s annual report, and to speak to the crisis of affordable housing in the city of Boston.
