Heidi Sloan Joins Religious, Community Leaders to Defend Austin’s Homeless from Governor’s Attacks

For Immediate Release
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AUSTIN, TX — At 7:30am on Friday November 1 at the Texas Governor’s Mansion, candidate for U.S. Congress in Texas’s 25th District Heidi Sloan will stand alongside faith leaders, service providers, community organizers, and people experiencing homelessness in an action in solidarity with Austin’s homeless against threats made by Texas Governor Greg Abott. The action will be a faith service dedicated to the houseless poor.

“When the most marginalized people in our society are attacked by the richest shareholders of power in our state, there is no moral path forward that includes silence,” said Heidi Sloan , who has farmed alongside the formerly homeless at Community First! Village for the last six years. “We must speak out and take action in solidarity with our homeless neighbors. This vicious opportunism on the part of the Governor further solidifies him as an enemy of poor people. We stand with the poor, now and always.”

Sloan was a lead organizer in the Homes Not Handcuffs coalition which successfully moved Austin City Council to decriminalize homelessness in June following years of campaigning. After Austin City Council’s vote, a reactionary right-wing backlash mobilized to spread deliberate misinformation about rewrites made to three city ordinances, an effort that has been aided and abetted by Governor Abbott. The Governor’s hysteria has culminated in a threat to leverage the power of the state against the homeless in Austin in November.

Politicians like Greg Abbott and Sloan’s opponent Roger Williams are funded by banks, landlords, and developers that profit off of displacement and housing insecurity. Heidi Sloan stands firmly on the side of the working class in the fight for housing justice, democratic control of our homes, and dignity for poor people.

While Abbott contributed to homelessness directly by leaving Medicaid money on the table , Sloan has proposed lifting the ban on rent control, expanding Medicaid, and raising the minimum wage to address the material factors contributing to homelessness.

WHAT: Austin Religious leaders hold “Sunrise Service”
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 1, 7:45 a.m. CST
WHERE: Governor’s Mansion, 1010 Colorado St, Austin, TX 78701
WHO: Heidi Sloan alongside religious, spiritual, and community leaders

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