H.O.P.E. is the name of a Mid-South Peace and Justice Center sponsored organization whose members are exclusively people who are currently or have formerly experienced homelessness. For over a year now, H.O.P.E. has been organizing and agitating around the issues that are a priority to the homeless community.
DIGNITY:
H.O.P.E. would like to thank Memphis landmark BBQ restaurant Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous who have to hired several H.O.P.E. members for part time work at the concession stands in the FedEx forum. We are also proud to announce that one of our members; Kayla has been promoted to be a stand leader, which gives her more shifts at a higher rate of pay. Escaping homelessness is nearly impossible for individuals who do not have a job or source of income. Even in a good economy, there are overwhelming barriers to for someone experiencing homelessness that is seeking employment at a fair wage. Opportunities like this are, unfortunately, uncommon to say the least. Congratulations to Kayla and “thank you” to the Rendezvous for providing this opportunity to our members. We also ask all of our friends and supporters to throw some business the Rendezvous’ way; either at their downtown restaurant or at their concession stands at the Fed Ex forum.
Mutual Emotional Support:
This month, H.O.P.E. member Tommy Burchett died unexpectedly of a heart attack. We met Tommy during the outreach for the 100 Homes campaign and he became a fixture at H.O.P.E. meetings. Tommy had serious untreated mental illness and was a good candidate for receiving housing and wraparound services through the Community Alliance for the Homeless’ 100 Homes program. Tommy was gentle and kind and deserved better than dying alone on the street. Everyone and everything dies but no one has to die this way. The Manna House and H.O.P.E. will be announcing a memorial service later this month to honor Tommy.
Solidarity:
Homelessness is grim issue for transgendered individuals. One in five transgendered individuals experience homelessness as a result of either discrimination based on their identity or because of rejection by family. In addition, the services for transgendered folks who are experiencing homelessness are severely limited. They are often turned away from shelters and experience discrimination when seeking housing or other supportive services.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance, hosted in Memphis by Perpetual Transition, is a day set aside, once a year to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. H.O.P.E. member Claudell “Toni” Whitfield served as the keynote speaker for this year’s Transgender Day of Remembrance and spoke of the need for us all to stand together and fight discrimination and injustice wherever we find it. H.O.P.E has many LGBT members and stands in full solidarity of our transgender brothers and sisters.
Self Determination:
H.O.P.E. members have met every Monday at the Memphis Center for Independent Living, over the past several months to develop a business plan and bylaws for a worker owned and operated tee-shirt printing co-op. This month, H.O.P.E. members are pleased to announce that we have been awarded a ten thousand dollar grant from the Sparkplug Foundation to help us get the equipment and supplies necessary to get this project up and running in a professional capacity. This business venture will be owned and operated by our members who are currently or formerly experiencing homelessness.
H.O.P.E. members involved in the Street-Wise Ink project have been attending workshops to learn the skills of silk-screening and several of our members have design skills, which will be utilized in this project. Street-Wise will be creating a retail line of original shirts as well as offering a wholesale service. Please consider Street-Wise Ink for your t-shirt needs.
Feeding the Movement:
H.O.P.E would like to once again thank Just for Lunch and Trolley Stop Market for making a commitment to donate meals each month for our weekly H.O.P.E. meetings at The Manna House! There are lots of ways to feed the movement, and we would like to thank all of our allies for their continued support.
If you are interested in how you can support the work of H.O.P.E. members, please contact Paul Garner @ 901.725.4990 or paul@midsouthpeace.org
and don’t forget to like us on Facebook for more H.O.P.E. updates!
MSPJC knows that oppression affects all of us, and it’s only through looking at these hurts that we can heal ourselves and our society so that we can build a truly just and peaceful community. It is with this understanding that MSPJC’s training program, G.O.T. Power, has been offering a series of anti-oppression workshops facilitated by Laura Sullivan this fall.