May has seen an upsurge in local organizations exercising
their human rights to housing. Most
people recognize that international human rights guarantee all humans a
right
to housing. With the millions of
homeless living in our communities and the millions of empty foreclosed
houses
all across our communities, groups have decided to put them together.
Organizations across the US are engaging in "housing
liberation" and "housing defense" to exercise their human rights to
housing. Here are a few examples.
Madison
In Madison Wisconsin, the grass-roots organization Operation
Welcome Home helped Desiree Wilson, 24, a mother with small children to
move
into a vacant house, hook up utilities and change the locks, according
to
nbc15.com in Madison.
The home was vacant due to foreclosure. Bank of America owns the home
now. "It's not against the law, "said Ms. Wilson.
"This is above the law. It's just so
much bigger than me. Housing is a human
right."
Operation Welcome Home held a press conference criticizing
the billions of dollars in bailouts to mortgage lenders. "We're asking
them to turn over the property
to the community whose tax dollars are funding what they are doing."
One of the spokespersons for the group, Z!Haukness,
reminded people that "housing is a human right, no matter what income,
no
matter what rental history." The group
plans more "liberations" of other vacant property.
A local land trust, Madison Area Community Land Trust, says
if the activists convince the bank to donate the home the trust can find
the
resources to turn it into affordable housing. Taking over the vacant
foreclosed property is "a brave move" says
Michael Carlson of the Madison trust. Carlson told the Madison Cap
Times "They're compelling the citizens of Dane County to confront the
very real contradictions in the way we provide housing -
massive surpluses in the market that led to a collapse in credit and
simultaneously people without shelter and permanent affordable housing."
Toledo
A Toledo, Ohio, factory worker, Keith Sadler
lost his home of 20 years at a foreclosure sale for $33,000. When it
came time to be evicted, Keith had
had enough. According to the
toledoblade.com, he
and 6 friends barricaded the house up to resist the
foreclosure eviction. All were all
members of the Toledo Foreclosure Defense League. After 5 days the
house was raided by the
local SWAT team and all were arrested on misdemeanor charges and
released.
Portland
In Portland, Oregon, a local group, Right 2
Survive, seized control of vacant land in front of an abandoned school.
They set up tents for the un-housed. "This is a celebration because we
are taking
our rights back, " Julie McCurdy told Take Back the Land. "What we're
doing is
coming up with the solutions tailored for our community. We are tired
of waiting for city hall to come
up with revised plans and rehashed ordinances that do not meet the needs
of
un-housed Portlanders."
Sacramento, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta
A faith-based group has been moving families into vacant
homes in Sacramento. The Poor People's Economic Human Rights
Campaign moved a family into a vacant home in Philadelphia. The Chicago
Anti-eviction Campaign marched to protect a family from
eviction and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement protested auctions of
family
homes on the county courthouse steps of Atlanta. Other community
actions across the country
are expected during the rest of May.
Housing as a Human Right
Housing is a human right recognized by a number of international
human rights laws. For example, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted after the Second World
War,
promised "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for
the
health and well-being of himself and his family, including food,
clothing,
housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to
security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood,
old age
or other lack of livelihood."
Still, the National Coalition for the Homeless estimates of
the number of homeless people in the US range from 1.6 to 3.5 million.
Foreclosures are soaring. Some housing experts say 4 million
foreclosures are possible in
2010. There were 3.4 million homes which
got foreclosure notices, auction sale notices or bank repossessions in
2009. In the first quarter of 2010,
RealtyTrac reported there were 932,000 foreclosures. Auctions were
scheduled on 369,000 homes in
the same time. Banks repossessed 257,000
homes during that time
Organizations working to exercise peoples' human rights to
housing include Take Back the Land and the US Human Rights Network.
Both are working with local community
organizations to support their campaigns.