Adeline St & Fairview St
Berkeley, CA 94703
USA
In case of BPD eviction, a new location will be sent-out!
Please share this announcement with sympathizers of First They Came for the Homeless
The proposal of First They Came for the Homeless to create an intentional community of people without housing options was rejected by Berkeley’s City Council last night (Nov. 1).
This means we remain subject to police raids and evictions, which makes it more difficult for us to provided a place for Berkeley’s homeless where they can safely sleep and get food and assistance for their critical needs.
Our response to the City of Berkeley’s rejection of our proposal for a drug and alcohol-free tent village is to organize the tremendous support and encouragement we’ve received from Berkeley’s housed community to actively demonstrate the benefits of our model to the satisfaction of City officials harboring doubts.
Please come to the General Assembly to contribute to our plan for next steps and find out how you can help.
A summary of the current situation:
First They Came for the Homeless members have established a peaceful, clean, drug and alcohol free collective in the face of cold temperatures, wind and rain, ongoing police raids, lack of basic resources, and duplicitous city officials. The collective entered into dialogues in good faith with city officials who have proved unable to meet the need of sheltering homeless people in Berkeley.
A strong proposal from First They Came for the Homeless and community members to create an intentional community with a stable location for tents, water, garbage pick up and sanitation resources (such as was recently established in Oakland) was dismissed by Berkeley’s City Council Tuesday night (Nov. 1). In the city’s reports, there was a lack of recognition shown to the collective’s contribution, false allegations were made, they failed to address the immediate issues for the many whose lives are at risk, and the city manager office alluded to future police raids (each of which is estimated to cost about $30,000).
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