Hi John,

The Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services (DMHHS), Wayne Turnage, recently announced a new “pilot program” whose stated purpose would be to expedite getting unhoused people into housing. This would be done by adding interested people to a by-name list to get housing, clearing the encampments, and creating no-tent zones in their place. However, so far, the reality of the pilot program is far from its stated purpose:

The Deputy Mayor seems way more interested in evicting camps and creating no-tent zones than in actually housing people. In the NoMa eviction last week, we saw DMHHS even bulldoze a resident who was in his tent. That is unacceptable.

We are asking that the DC government commit to keeping people safe during the re-housing process. The program needs to change. We demand all evictions of encampments be halted until every resident who chooses to participate is placed into permanent housing. Moreover, the creation of no-tent zones in the city must be abandoned – camp residents who do not decide to participate in the program should not be evicted from where they live.

We need YOU to take 1 minute to send an email in support of our unhoused neighbors to Council, Mayor, and DMHHS.

SEND YOUR EMAIL

If enough of us speak up, we can push the DC government to back off on the evictions. Please also retweet and share on Instagram to spread the word!

In Solidarity,

Sunrise DC