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Stop the McPherson Square encampment eviction
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February 9, 2023

The Honorable Muriel Bowser                                The Honorable Deb Haaland

Mayor of Washington DC                                Secretary of the Interior

The Honorable Christina Henderson                                

Chair, DC Council Committee on Health

Mayor Bowser, Secretary Haaland, and Councilmember Henderson,

Over the past year, the Bowser Administration and the National Parks Service (NPS) have evicted and permanently closed many of DC’s largest tent encampments, often without providing additional housing or support to residents. Many residents who were displaced from these encampments found refuge in one of the last places they feel safe: McPherson Square. For the fortunate 15 people matched to a housing resource, moving into their apartment is still months away.  

 

Displacement makes it harder to end homelessness 

Displacing encampment residents in the middle of the winter will only compound their mistrust in government and further expose them to weather and policing. The Bowser administration’s request that the NPS close McPherson Square two months ahead of schedule will also make it harder for outreach providers and mutual aid groups to work with unhoused neighbors and will force people to move their tents to yet another park in DC.  In short, displacing this encampment will NOT end homelessness. Instead, it will waste time and resources and further traumatize our neighbors.  

 

The Way Home Campaign and the undersigned organizations call on the Bowser Administration and the National Parks Service to stop this eviction  

We call on the Bowser Administration and the National Park Services to:  

·         Stop all encampment evictions, at least until the end of hypothermia season, and wait until every encampment resident is provided with a solution that meets their needs

·         Address persistent barriers to DC’s shelter system (such as curfews, lack of 24/7 access, limits on possessions and pets, and strict program rules) and expand non-congregate shelter capacity

·         Shift DC’s focus from closing encampments to implementing the over 2,000 units of housing with supportive services that are funded but remain unused. Doing so will markedly reduce homelessness in DC, make shelters less crowded, and reduce outreach caseloads thereby increasing the services available to those still experiencing homelessness.  

 

Encampments are the most visible reminder of DC’s homelessness crisis and the natural byproduct of DC’s dire lack of low-income housing. Invisibilizing tent communities, which offer both shelter and community, does not make homelessness go away.

 

Shelters have few beds and burdensome program rules and barriers. Housing vouchers are stalled. DC’s non-congregate hotel program no longer takes new people. People have nowhere else to go.

 

Housing ends homelessness 

We’re committed to working with our partners towards solutions that do not involve eviction, criminalization or displacement of encampment residents. We hope the Bowser Administration decides to use their power for good, and not for displacement and harm.  

 

McPherson Square is located less than half a mile from the White House. 70+ people living outside within eyeshot of the White House must compel Mayor Bowser, President Biden, the Council of DC and Congress to focus on what actually ends homelessness: housing.  

Sincerely,

  1. A Wider Circle
  2. ACLU of the District of Columbia
  3. American Civil Liberties Union of DC at American University
  4. A Way Home America
  5. Adas Israel Social Action Committee
  6. Autistic Self Advocacy Network
  7. Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
  8. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
  9. Bread for the City
  10. Caldwell Chapel Community
  11. Caring Across Generations
  12. Center for Disability Rights
  13. Charlie’s Place
  14. Coalition for the Homeless
  15. Collective Action for Safe Spaces
  16. Community Change
  17. Community of Hope
  18. Community of Sant’Egidio, Washington, DC
  19. The Davis Center for Social Justice at Temple Sinai
  20. The DC Fiscal Policy Institute*
  21. DC for Reasonable Development
  22. DC Greens
  23. DC Jobs with Justice
  24. DC Public Restrooms
  25. DC Statehood Green Party
  26. Dorothy Day Catholic Worker
  27. Drug Policy Alliance
  28. Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
  29. Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center
  30. Empower DC
  31. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
  32. Everyone Home DC*
  33. The Fair Budget Coalition
  34. The Festival Center
  35. Funders Together to End Homelessness
  36. Friendship Place*
  37. Georgetown Ministry Center
  38. Greater Napa Valley Fair Housing Center
  39. Gonzaga Peace Club
  40. Heal Da Homies
  41. HIPS
  42. Housing Narrative Lab
  43. Interfaith Power and Light DMV
  44. Interfaith Works
  45. Jews United for Justice
  46. Justice in Aging
  47. Legal Action Center
  48. Luther Place Memorial Church
  49. McPherson Sq. Feast on the Street Ministry
  50. Miriam's Kitchen*
  51. Mother’s Outreach Network
  52. N Street Village
  53. National Association of Social Workers DC Chapter
  54. National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
  55. National Coalition for the Homeless
  56. National Homelessness Law Center
  57. National Housing Law Project
  58. The National Low Income Housing Coalition
  59. National Women’s Law Center
  60. Negotiation Works
  61. NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
  62. ONE DC
  63. The Organization of United People
  64. The People for Fairness Coalition *
  65. Positive Force DC
  66. Poverty & Race Research Action Council
  67. Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK)
  68. Public Health Awakened DC
  69. Public Justice Center
  70. The Safety Net Project- Urban Justice Center
  71. Sanctuary DMV
  72. Sex Worker Advocates Coalition
  73. Shepard’s Table
  74. Shriver Center on Poverty Law
  75. Sixth & I
  76. Spanish Education for Women
  77. SOME, Inc.
  78. St. John's Church, Georgetown
  79. St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church
  80. St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, DC
  81. Street Health DC
  82. Stopthedrugwar.org
  83. Stop Police Terror Project DC
  84. Sunrise DC
  85. Washington DC Poor People’s Campaign
  86. Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs
  87. The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless*
  88. Ward 2 Mutual Aid
  89. We are Family Senior Outreach Network
  90. Woodley House

* The Way Home Campaign Steering Committee member organization

cc: The Honorable Robert White, The Honorable Wayne Turnage, The Honorable Laura Zeilinger, The Honorable Rachel Taylor, The Honorable Kym Hall