Demand to Mayors In San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Fresno, Berkeley, and other California cities in fire-zones to Open Vacant Hotel Rooms so Houseless People Can Breathe...
Due to the ongoing Crisis of Fires all across the State houseless and formerly houseless peoples and their advocates are demanding that ALL vacant motel and hotel rooms be opened for people residing on the street, unable to shelter in place.
"I have asthma and my inhaler doesnt even help in this bad air when im in a tent", said Roxanne, houseless reporter for POOR Magazine residing on the streets in San Francisco.
"As the AQI index continues to register "Unhealthy" for all people, with warnings to "stay indoors" not do outdoor activities and close windows and doors, it is another form of anti-poor, ableist abuse to look the other way from hundreds of thousands of houseless, disabled residents of all California cities sleeping on the street with no windows or doors to shut," said Tiny Gray-Garcia, formerly houseless co-founder of POOR Magazine.
The majority of houseless residents of ctites are medically fragile or living with disabilites, untreated or undiagnosed COPD, emphysema, heart disease, asthma and other by-products of their lives in poverty, scarce and hard to find
In addition to the increased risk of acquiring Covid19, direct and unprotected exposure to particulates and smoke is proven to cause life-long damage to our bodies.
The Bay Area and all of California is home to some of the largest homeless communities in the country, From Santa Cruz to San Francisco, mayors have already shown a reluctance to open motel and hotel rooms for houseless peoples to help them stay healthy and sheltered in the face of the Covid19, pandemic so this newest danger of fire smoke is another chance for mayors to move resources to the poorest people to ensure we are all safe in these times of crisis. This is intentional negligence by mayors, even when cities recieve millions in homeless services funding
"Many privileged people have never experienced this in their lifetimes however people with disabilities especially us who are houseless have experienced negligence like this over and over how government and even some in our communities have time and time again left us behind in times of emergencies from hurricane Katrina to the earthquake in Puerto Rico, said Leroy Moore, POOR Magazine and Krip Hop Nation
As a contrast to the government scarcity model politricks, acts of violent wealth-hoarding of land and resources POOR Magazine’s Homefulness Project, The United Front Against Displacement Self-Help Hunger Program, East Oakland Collective, The Disability Culture Club, HomiesEmpowerment, Community Ready Corps, Consider the Homeless and other very grassroots organizations all across the Bay Area have been doing daily Mutual aid redistribution efforts to unhoused and very low-income housed or marginally housed indigenous refugees, in Covid19 , the fire crisis and always in the crisis of poverty -providing supplies of gloves, masks, hand sanitizers and now specifically N95 Masks to fight the fire smoke.
Co-sponsors of this statement include POOR Magazine/ Prensa POBRE/Homefulness Project- the SFBayview Newspaper,/ Food Not Bombs, House the Bay, SolidarityForever Self-Help Hunger Program, POOR Magazine's Solidarity Family,KRIP HOP NATION, Do No Harm/ Health Justice Commons.Indians Organizing for Change (IPOC), IdleNoMoreSF, Public HEalth Justice Collective, National Brown Berets Oakland Chapter, National Brown Berets Sacramento Chapter. To add your organizational or individual name email poormag@gmail.com
