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Downtown Homeless Shelter Struggle Continues: Franklin Shelter Hearing
Tuesday February 3rd at 10:00am in DC Superior Court Room 517
500 Indiana Ave., NW, WDC

For more information:
Pete Tucker 202-365-6118
Jane Zara 202-390-2449

Former inhabitants of Franklin Shelter have sued Mayor Adrian Fenty over the abrupt closing of Franklin Shelter (the only city downtown shelter in DC), and the loss of vital services for the poor and the  homeless of DC, including loss of mental health services and the steady
erosion of other vital services.

The HEARING is on Tuesday February
3rd at 10:00am in DC Superior Court, Room 517, 500 Indiana Ave., NW.

Please spread the word, come to the hearing, and let all of those in need know, so their voices can be heard this Tuesday!

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Download the Latest Poster

Download the Latest Flier

Just write-in the most current info, make copies, and distribute!

Campaign T-shirts Available at our Events

For more information contact: 202 365 6118

Download Our First Poster

Street Sense's STREATS Blogger Eric Sheptock

Above are the members of our founding organization, the Committee to Save Franklin Shelter, as we posed for a picture published in Street Sense Newspaper to celebrate the preservation of Franklin for another year.

Campaign

FranklinShelter.org / Campaign /

Homeless Rights Street Law Series

EXPUNGING CRIMINAL RECORDS

Friday, March 12
1-4 pm
MLK Library Room A5

April Frazier
Community Reentry Program Coordinator, Public Defender Services for DC

Agenda
1:00pm - Updates, Take Back the Land
2:00pm - Expunging Criminal Records Workshop

For more info:

Eric Sheptock: (240) 305-5255 ericsheptock@yahoo.com
George Rickman: (202) 723-3955
Jane Zara: (202) 483-9303

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SHAME ON FENTY, WHY???

• Fenty closed the only city shelter in downtown DC before winter in 2008 - just when homelessness was rising in our capital city,
  
  
• Fenty closed 23 neighborhood schools without proper public input in 2008,
  
  
• Fenty is now selling 11 public schools to real estate developers,
  
  
• DC has one of the harshest rental environments for low income people in the US,
  
  
• Over 24,500 severely rent-burdened households are in DC,
  
  
• There is a shortage of over 19,400 rental units affordable and available to extremely low income people in DC,
  
  
• DC has the highest rate of new reports of AIDS cases in the US,
  
  
• AIDS mortality rates in DC are 10 times the national average,
  
  
• DC has the 4th highest incarceration rate in the US, and
  
  
• DC Wards 7 and 8 have among the highest illiteracy rates in the US.

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DC Needs an Emergency Downtown Shelter

~ SIGN THE PETITION [click here] ~

Franklin Shelter residents and supporters march to "KEEP FRANKLIN
SHELTER OPEN" on Thursday, September 25, 2008

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BACKGROUND

FRANKLIN HAD BEEN SERVING DC RESIDENTS FOR MORE THAN A TWO-TERM PRESIDENCY...

Franklin Shelter's capacity to serve DC residents was dismantled in the early morning hours of September 26. All beds were broken down and shipped elsewhere along with all Franklin Shelter residents.

• The Fenty administration moved rapidly to close Franklin Shelter ahead of schedule, ignoring the requirements of the City Council's emergency legislation passed on September 16th, and leaving many former residents with nowhere to go.
  
  

• A crowd of former Franklin residents and their supporters had Mayor Fenty on the run that fateful at the end of fall 2008. During an afternoon rally, as he hid inside the Wilson building to avoid being held accountable for the destruction caused by his actions, Wilson Building security forces were told not to let any homeless advocates into the Mayor's office.
  
  

• That night, former residents were among those who camped out in Franklin Park, across from the shuttered shelter during a heinous storm -- lighting and buckets of rain to the measure of 3+ inches reflected the mood of the entire experience.
  
  

See photos here.

• Leading up to the immediate closure and for a little while since, about sixty randomly chosen homeless men were moved into an assortment of taxpayer subsidized apartments around the City under a program called Housing First.
  
  

• The homeless residents not placed in this new Housing First program -- the reasons of which are unknown and ambiguous -- were squeezed into other overcrowded shelters away from downtown DC. Many Franklin residents, simply in shock by the Mayor's actions, are on the nearby streets and park benches of Franklin Park.
  
  

The City Administrator, Dan Tangerlini, has testified under oath, that there are no immediate plans for the Franklin School building ~ which has left many to wonder why the rush to push out the homeless just in time for this hellish winter.

• An impending harsh winter had been oozing ever closer even as Councilmembers stayed warm during a sometimes heated debate. Take for example the strange moment when Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans curses out Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry.
  
  

• On September 16, 2008, the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation requiring the Mayor to certify to the Council that no fewer than 300 men have been placed into housing before the closure of Franklin Shelter could take place, and that Franklin continue its operations as a 300 person shelter in the meantime.
  
  

• The legislation also required to provide the Council "with a report on any proposed closing of the Franklin Shelter that includes a description of the current capacity, current availability, and location of replacement shelter space, and the ability to seasonally increase capacity to reduce incidences of hypothermia among the homeless population prior to closing the Franklin Shelter."
  
  

• Additionally, The DC Council unanimously agreed that adequate shelter capacity is a priority for D.C. and expressed a growing mistrust of the Administration's lack of transparency in implementing its Housing First program and closing the last low-barrier downtown shelter.

MAYOR FENTY RELEASES REPORT ON PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR FRANKLIN RESIDENTS. The report demonstrates that Franklin residents are indeed on the street. Sept. 30, 2008

• Mayor Fenty submitted his report exactly one minute after the DC Council deadline... and advocates have come to the conclusion that it was all a guise of accountability perpetrated by the Mayor and with the complicity of members on the Council.

THE WINTER IS HERE
IT'S BELOW ZERO OUT ON SOME NIGHTS
~ legal update here ~

For a bit more history on prior campaigns
to save this important downtown shelter click here.

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Your Concern is Needed

Please call the Mayor and your City Councilperson and tell them to restore the original 300 beds ... hypothermia season is here and humans living in DC are at risk.

The Mayor has completely disregarded the will of the Council and some members of the Council have shown their disregard for District residents down on their luck and who rely on downtown shelter every night.

1. Be at Franklin rallies and demonstrations -- see above.
   
2. Call or email the Mayor to express your outrage (mayor@dc.gov, 727-2980)
3. Call or email the Council to let them know that the Mayor is disregarding their legislation. Ask them about their position on Franklin Shelter.
   

Call DC's Councilmembers

• Chair Vincent C. Gray, vgray@dccouncil.us, 724-8032
• At-large David Catania, dcatania@dccouncil.us, 724-7772
• At-large Carol Schwartz, cschwartz@dccouncil.us, 724-8105
• At-large Phil Mendelson, pmendelson@dccouncil.us, 724-8064
• At-large Kwame R. Brown, kbrown@dccouncil.us, 724-8174
• Ward 1 Jim Graham, jgraham@dccouncil.us, 724-8181
• Ward 2 Jack Evans, jackevans@dccouncil.us, 724-8058
• Ward 3 Mary Cheh, mcheh@dccouncil.us, 724-8062
• Ward 4 Muriel Bowser, mbowser@dccouncil.us, 724-8052
• Ward 5 Harry "Tommy" Thomas Jr., hthomas@dccouncil.us, 724-8028
• Ward 6 Tommy Wells, twells@dccouncil.us, 724-8072
• Ward 7 Yvette Alexander, yalexander@dccouncil.us, 724-8068
• Ward 8 Marion Barry, mbarry@dccouncil.us, 724-8045
• Councilmember listserve membersonly@dccouncil.us

Franklin Shelter residents and supporters erect a tent city after Mayor Fenty kicked
out the last Franklin Shelter residents on Thursday, September 26, 2008

DC Needs an Emergency Downtown Shelter ~ SIGN THE PETITION

Please sign onto the petition below.

download printable petition here

The Committee to Save Franklin Shelter continues its struggle to help save lives.  Many former Franklin Shelter residents were forced onto the streets or into overcrowded shelters far from downtown, and its getting colder quickly. We want an appropriate safety net for all people experiencing homelessness in DC.  We want no one to suffer needlessly on DC’s streets, or to risk death during extreme weather.  We want appropriate services at emergency shelters to help people overcome homelessness and poverty in a humane way. Sign onto the demands below and contact us to let us know if you will support our struggle for justice.  Thank you. 1. Franklin Shelter must be brought back on-line immediately. Reopen Franklin as a 300+ bed low-barrier shelter now, preventing more people from suffering cold months on the streets.  DC needs downtown, low-barrier emergency shelters, especially buildings which are already equipped as such. Many people are at serious risk of dying this winter season -- Reopen Franklin Now! 2. A real plan for the 2008-2009 Hypothermia Season The City needs to immediately provide a meaningful hypothermia plan for this winter season, happening right now, with verification and genuine input from local community groups& individuals, NGOs, and from people experiencing homelessness. 3. We Need Shelters with Dignified Service Low barrier shelters in DC, such as 801 East and New York Ave. should open no later than 4:30pm, and have services available, including: * consistent, frequent, and adequate transportation to and from downtown services, * medical, mental, food, and substance use treatment services, * job training & access to day work programs, * secure and sufficient storage for shelter residents' belongings, * adequate bed space -- no more overcrowding, and * clean and safe facilities administered by trained professional. 4. The Housing First Program Needs Better Oversight and Management The City's Housing First Program is a another tool to help the poor of the District, but something that is quite separate from the issue of closing DC's sole downtown emergency shelter. This program is being rushed into action with peoples lives in the balance.   For those homeless people that have participated in the Housing First program, the City must provide a regular accounting of the people who have left or lost their permanent supportive housing, with information on reasons to why they left and their current whereabouts, and about the future use of the apartments.   5. Increase DC's Housing Stock Clearly there is an ever diminishing housing stock for low-income DC residents which is helping to push more and more residents closer to homelessness.  The City must bring online more low-income and subsidized housing for working people, disabled people, elderly, and other working class men, women and families living in the District. First Name : Last Name : E-mail: (E-mail) Phone: Street: City: State: Select State... Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Newfoundland New Brunswick Nova Scotia Northwest Territories Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon Territory Other Zip: (US ZIP Code (5 digits)) Ward: Select Ward... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Thoughts: Spam Protection: Type the characters you see in the picture below.