Homelessness has a myriad of causes and dimensions—from foreclosure, job loss and domestic violence to mental illness, medical expenses and addiction. If we as a community are to properly respond and act, we must take a more comprehensive view of why homelessness occurs and how we can effectively combat it.
The federal government says affordable housing should take no more than 30 percent of a person's income. In reality, no one earning minimum wage in any state can afford a one- or two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent. In 1999, the national two-bedroom housing wage was $11.08; in 2011, the national housing wage was $18.46, a 66 percent increase. The lack of affordable housing is widely considered to be the main cause of homelessness in the United States today.
Homelessness is growing at an alarming rate locally and nationally, and many cities’ solution to the crisis is to criminalize poverty by passing constitutionally dubious laws crafted to harass the homeless. Sadly, Memphis is no exception to this. Such efforts are not only inhumane and immoral, but have been legally challenged as violations of the First, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. More to the point, these efforts are ineffective, counterproductive and fiscally irresponsible.
People First is a Mid-South Peace and Justice Center supported partnership with residents and activists working in the Binghampton community to raise voter turn out during elections and assist in long term resident-driven grassroots community organizing after the elections end.
The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center is thrilled to announce the completion of the 2011 Memphis Survival Guide (MSG.) MSG is a an updated version of our handheld user-friendly directory of all homeless service providers, runaway services, drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, shelter and meal services offered in the City of Memphis.
On December 17th, the three month anniversary of the occupation movement, Memphians will join together and Occupy 4 Memphis.
At noon, rallies and vigils will be held at three locations, coordinated by ally groups. Participants should choose one location to converge on at noon.
Today marks one month since members of the 99% began the occupation of Memphis. We at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center have stood in solidarity with this movement and have offered resources, training and our personal support to this inspiring movement. Unfortunately as those occupying Civic Center Plaza prepared to celebrate the 1% in New York began evicting thousands at Occupy Wall Street. In response, the 99% will rally today at 5pm at Civic Center Plaza (map) and march at 6pm.
You are us, we are you, we are the 99%! Join us as we raise our voices and voice our discontent with the systems that allow 1% of Americans to have undue control over the rest of us.
What follows is an official statement from Occupy Memphis:
We are Occupy Memphis. We stand with the Occupy Wall Street Movement and all other nonviolent democratic uprisings around the world.
We are here to denounce the control of our government by the 1%. We the People have a right to govern ourselves; that right has been usurped by corporations, big banks, Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, and the wealthiest 1% of our population. These elites put profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality.
They say we have a budget crisis, but what we have is a priority crisis. They say we have a fiscal deficit, but what we have is a deficit of democracy. They have taken our silence for consent, but no more.
In the city, warm season crops like basil, eggplants and okra and still hanging on in community gardens, but a hard frost is knocking on our door. Although more and more people are growing greens and root vegetables over the winter, this is the season when many of us put our gardens to bed for the year. The fall of the year always leads people to ask of GrowMemphis, “what do you do in the winter?”
While it might be nice to get a four month sabbatical every year, fall and winter are actually a very exciting time for GrowMemphis. We get to turn our energies towards all kinds of things that the growing season has kept on the back burner.
It has been a full year for the GrowMemphis neighborhood community garden program. To give you just a taste of what we've been up to: we hosted workshops on winter growing, bed preparation, and tomato diseases; gardeners pitched in to grow thousands of seedlings that were given to community gardens and sold at our annual plant sale; we raised funds to help start two new garden projects; and student volunteers came from Kansas and Florida to lend a hand.
PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT is a massive one-day event targeting unsheltered homeless people in Memphis and Shelby County at which all the resources and services needed to end homelessness for individuals are provided under one roof—at one time. Community volunteers pair up one-on-one with homeless individuals beginning with street engagement and ending with providing access to a wide array of resources at the Cook Convention Center. Dozens of agencies and service providers join together to break down barriers that make it difficult for individuals to leave homelessness behind.
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