{ "type": "rich", "version": "1.0", "provider_name": "Action Network", "provider_url": "https://actionnetwork.org", "html": "
", "author_name": "U-ACT Solidarity Coalition", "author_url": "https://actionnetwork.org/groups/u-act-solidarity-coalition", "title": "Tent City Eviction by the City of New Haven", "thumbnail_url": "https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/419/556/normal/Untitled_design_(2).png", "description": "Today’s eviction of Tent City by the City of New Haven is shameful. At 7 am today, Mayor Elicker sent 35+ police officers, a dozen Parks and Recreation employees, an 18 wheeler, and multiple commercial machines to forcibly remove a handful of people who did not want to leave their home. They arrested Mark Colville of Amistad Catholic Worker, who refused to leave. The mayor decided to spend tens of thousands of dollars to evict a community from their refuge, when the City could have used that money to pay rent for permanent housing for our folks. Join us to accompany Mark when he pleads not guilty next Friday, March 24 at 9:00 am in New Haven Superior Court on 121 Elm Street. We stand with the Unhoused Activist Community Team in their demands: Stop evictions of unhoused people from public land. Stop throwing away unhoused people’s belongings. Install permanent public bathrooms and showers to serve the homeless community. Offer people storage sites for their belongings if they choose to stay in shelter beds. Sign U-ACT's petition, as well as this petition, to show your solidarity and learn about future actions. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Full Statement: Three years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic, folks who were unhoused took refuge and established a community of encampments in the West River public park. Community groups helped them make a dignified home with hand-washing stations, generators, and wooden structures to stay dry, warm, and safe. The camp grew at one point to forty people. Many of the Tent City residents were survivors of unjust evictions, predatory rent raises, and disabling working and housing conditions. They created dignified living conditions in Tent City, because the shelters were unsafe or unlivable. And on multiple occasions when shelters were full, Connecticut’s 211 hotline even sent people to the refuge at Tent City. Two weeks ago, the City of New Haven threatened Tent City with eviction, but they assured us that if tenants cleaned up the park, they would be left alone. Tent City residents and their supporters cleaned up the whole park, filling ten industrial size dumpsters. Yet, on Monday, the City issued another eviction notice, ordering people to leave by Wednesday at 1 pm. On Wednesday, dozens of community members showed up at Tent City to defend the encampment and help people who wanted to relocate to Amistad Catholic Worker House or another place. City officials gave mixed messages and refused to specify when they would proceed with the eviction. It is clear now that the City of New Haven waited until most community members and media had left before proceeding with the eviction. At 7 am today, Mayor Elicker sent 35+ police officers, a dozen Parks and Recreation employees, an 18 wheeler, and multiple commercial machines to forcibly remove folks. They arrested Mark Colville of Amistad Catholic Worker, who refused to leave. The eviction operation most likely cost upwards of $50,000, which New Haven could have used to pay rent for permanent housing for our folks.   The City of New Haven has given an apartment to only one person from Tent City. Everyone else was offered a temporary shelter bed. Many Tent City residents do not feel safe in shelters, because in the shelters they have been harassed by police repeatedly during mental health emergencies. The shelter system separates couples of different genders. People who work night shifts or jobs with odd hours can’t comply with the carceral rules of shelters. The unhoused want autonomy over their living conditions. New Haven residents suffer housing code violations on a daily basis by the slumlords that LCI and the City of New Haven are unwilling to hold accountable. Instead of addressing the black mold and lead that poisons us in our homes, Mayor Elicker decided to spend tens of thousands of dollars attacking a dozen unhoused neighbors. We know who the real violators are, and we see how the City of New Haven strong-arms the weak but acts meek with the powerful. Many of the Tent City residents are themselves survivors of unjust evictions, predatory rent raises, and disabling working and housing conditions. An assault on a community that is recovering from these violations is unwarranted and unnecessary. Tent City residents are now at higher risk of violent interactions with law enforcement, health emergencies in the cold, and death -- as in the case of our neighbor Victor Vivar, who passed away last month after the City destroyed his belongings in a similar eviction raid and forced him to relocate to a more dangerous location. The City chose to spend tens of thousands of dollars on violently clearing homes and endangering Tent City residents instead of addressing the housing crisis in New Haven. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Leave your own message for the Mayor and Community Services Administration using the numbers below. Mayor Justin Elicker: (203) 500-2969 Dr. Dalal, Community Services Administrator: (203) 946-7907 Carlos Sosa-Lombardo, Dir. Community Resilience: (475) 331-8317 Maritza Bond, Director, Health Department: (203) 946-6999 Let them Tent! Let them Live! THE EMERGENCY IS TONIGHT!", "url": "https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tent-city-eviction-by-the-city-of-new-haven" }