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Sunrise DC Housing Justice Team

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The DC government is destroying communities and displacing our unhoused

neighbors without giving them housing or a place to go. These encampment evictions must stop. Councilmember Nadeau recently introduced emergency legislation that would force Mayor Bowser to stop these harmful evictions and redirect the focus back towards housing. The Council heard the bill last Tuesday, 12/7 -- but decided to delay a vote until 12/21.

After the encampment clearing at NJ&O on 12/2, there were a lot of questions about the pilot program, what's happening, and why unhoused people are being forced out of public spaces. We'll share some information below:

The so-called “DC CARE” pilot program created a “by name list” which is used to determine who gets housing. They did this by going out to an encampment one random day in the fall, writing down names of the people there, and moving on. Residents had no idea whether they were on the list. DC DMHHS made the list with information gathered during a single visit. That's right: one visit. Weren't there that day? Sorry!
The pilot also creates “no-tent zones” which allow for the criminalization of future encampments and unhoused people. The creation of no-tent zones signifies the desire to remove homelessness, not address it. When the city treats encampments as a criminal issue and not one of the utter failure of housing, healthcare, and public safety systems, we get no-tent zones.
On 12/2, during the NJ&O encampment eviction and months after the announcement of the CARE Pilot Program, several residents were still left unsure as to where they would go after the city bulldozed their home. They hadn’t been given any other option, and certainly not permanent housing.
Despite the eviction being scheduled for 10 am, over a dozen cops, cop cars, and arrest vans forming a taped-off and heavily guarded police line were at the location by 7 am. Caseworkers from Pathways were not allowed entry as they arrived closer to 9 am. They entered the park by about 11 am, but after around 2 pm, as they were helping residents pack their belongings, they were denied entry by MPD.
The pilot program evicts already unhoused people from their tents before ensuring they have somewhere to go. Many yesterday were talked into going to PEP-V hotels, which were set up in response to the pandemic. Many residents have faced serious challenges and mistreatment in PEP-V hotels while staying in what are very poor living conditions.
These hotels have qualification restrictions. There are also strict rules: People cannot leave their rooms more than three days a week and cannot do so before 9 am, and cannot be out past 7 pm. They can only bring 2 bags with them. They do not receive a key and only staff can let them into their rooms.
The hotels randomly pair our neighbors with strangers as roommates, and split up couples, who are not given rooms to stay together. They are not allowed guests. Of the folks who were forced to leave yesterday, 4 of them did not go to PEP-V hotels. DHS, which runs the hotels, even explicitly states that PEP-V is “not a substitute for respite care, long-term healthcare, or a community residential facility”.
Our neighbors want housing and they want their needs met. Evictions or “engagements” like the one yesterday at NJ&O often lead to people losing paperwork or important documents when the city trashes their belongings that are necessary for getting a voucher and housing. Encampment clearings are counterproductive. It can take a long time for someone to get an ID, social security card, or other legal documents required in order to be housed. We know from past "engagements" that the city has thrown these documents away.
Hotels aren't housing -- despite what Wayne Turnage kept arguing yesterday morning. Do not let them control the narrative and inject it full of lies. They are evicting an 85% Black community, continuing decades-old racist housing policy.

Contact your Councilmember now to demand their support of the emergency legislation to stop encampment evictions!

Not sure what to say? Here's a script:

“My name is [NAME], and I live in Ward [#]. I'm calling to ask that you vote in support of the emergency legislation introduced by Councilmember Nadeau to stop the camp evictions. The city should house all who want housing without criminalizing homelessness further. Thank you.”