House The Homeless, Inc.
P.O. Box 2312
Austin, TX
78768-2312
(512) 796-4366
info@housethehomeless.org
OPEN LETTER
To The Citizens Of North America
Without question, the civil rights of homeless persons are being routinely violated. As a result, I was asked by the National Coalition for the Homeless to prepare a Protected Class Resolution that reflects the broad sweeping abuses being committed against homeless citizens throughout America.
In May of 1998, the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington D.C. unanimously passed the attached resolution. Pursuant to a meeting between Bill Lee, Acting Director of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department and the NCH, the U.S. Justice Department has now agreed to receive and compile civil rights abuses committed against homeless persons.
Michael Stoops, Chief Organizer with the NCH, has agreed to forward all complaints to Washington D.C. He can be reached at:
1-202-737-6444 Ext. 19
Or at his e-mail address at:
In addition to compiling abuses, our task is to publicize the Protected Class Resolution. We need to have it adopted at every political level possible. Ultimately, it would make sense to have it become part of the 1964 Civil Rights Amendment to the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States
In Unity there is Strength, Richard R. Troxell--President House The Homeless, Inc. Board Member--National Coalition for the Homeless
Because many states and cities are passing and enforcing laws targeted at poor and homeless people, and the fact that homeless people are targets of senseless assaults and murder due to their condition of homelessness, House The Homeless feels the need for the adoption of this resolution by City, State and the United States governments.
PROTECTED CLASS RESOLUTION
Whereas, the United States Government has adopted and is party to the United Nation's Document referenced as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which " confers on every member of society a right to basic economic, social, and cultural entitlements, that every (nation) state should recognize, serve, and protect, of which food, clothing, medical care, and housing are definitive components of the right to a minimum standard of living and dignity," and
Whereas, the United States Government has adopted, and is party to the United Nation's Document; the Habitat Agenda, which calls for certain actions that include but are not limited to: protection against discrimination, legal security of tenure and equal access to land including women and the poor; effective protection from illegal forced evictions, taking human rights into consideration, bearing in mind that homeless people should not be penalized for their status; by adopting policies aimed at making housing habitable, affordable and accessible, including those who are unable to secure adequate housing through their own means, and
Whereas, the United Nations Document: Habitat agenda, calls for the "Effective monitoring and evaluation of housing conditions, including the extent of homelessness and inadequate housing policies and implementing effective strategies and plans to address those problems," and
Whereas, there is a shortage of affordable housing stock nationwide, and
Whereas, the national minimum wage is an insufficient amount of money to secure safe, decent, affordable housing even at the most basic financial level, and
Whereas, more than the minimum wage is required in every state to be able to afford a one bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent, as set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and
Whereas, the combined effect of these and other circumstances create a group of people that have no alternatives to living on the streets of our nation, and
Whereas, it is estimated that nationwide, there are at least 760,000 persons living without a permanent, fixed, individual residence on any given night, and
Whereas, at least 28% of our nations' homeless are United States Veterans, and
Whereas, approximately 25% of the single adult homeless population suffers from some form of mental illness, and
Whereas, the fastest growing segment of the population is women with children, and
Whereas, 36.5 million men, women and children of all ages are living in poverty (many of whom are already homeless), and
Whereas, there has been a collective, concerted effort at city and county levels to devise laws and ordinances that find homeless people guilty of having committed a crime for simple acts such as sleeping in public, and
Whereas, there are certain life sustaining acts such as eating, breathing and sleeping that must be conducted by all persons including those that are homeless who must conduct these acts in public, and
Whereas, these laws and ordinances are designed to criminalize and sweep these homeless persons form our nations' streets and imprison them, without regard for their personal safety or care for their personal belongings, for no reason other than they are lacking housing and as a result, are characterized as non-citizens, and are deprived of their human rights, and
Whereas, these impoverished persons are targeted and often made victims of malicious hate crimes and selective enforcement of these laws and ordinances, and
Whereas, camping, sleeping and other anti-homeless laws are being enforced at a time when emergency housing shelters are consistently full and no housing alternatives remain available, and
Whereas, the enforcement of such laws under such circumstances constitute cruel and unusual punishment and impinge upon these persons access to travel,
THERFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That persons without a fixed, permanent, individual place of residence, and those that are earning 100% of Federal Poverty Guidelines or less, are sufficient in number characteristics, and vulnerability to compromise a distinct class of people, and as a result, shall hence forth constitute a Protected Class with all rights and protections under such a designation. Herein after, this Protected Class, will be referred to as the Indigent Homeless Population.
AND FURTHER, BE IT RESOLVED, that as a Protected Class they will be protected:
From laws against sleeping in public,
From acts or laws interfering with their right to travel
From wages that are so low that they are denied access to housing,
From laws or practices that disregard their rights of ownership, and protections for their personal belongings,
From being made targets of hate crimes, and
From being characterized and treated as non citizens.
Richard Troxell February 9, 1998
This resolution, written by Richard R. Troxell, President of House The Homeless, Inc., was adopted by the National Coalition on Homelessness in April of 1998 and will be introduced before the U.S. Congress for legislation and ratification.