House Keys Not Sweeps

House Keys Not Sweeps

10 Cities Join Forces to Defend OUR Humanity!!

WRAP’s House Keys Not Sweeps campaign is underway. Can you help us reach our goal of $15,000 with a generous gift today? We can’t do all the work we do to fight for the basic, human rights of people experiencing poverty and homelessness without all of our community coming together. THANK YOU for all the ways you support this work!

We know things are difficult on so many fronts right now, from the pandemic to wildfires, floods to tear gas, sweeps to police brutality. These issues affect us all, in different ways. Even in the midst of all this, local governments and private security patrols continue the violent tactics of sweeping people’s homes, stealing people’s belongings, and criminalizing the presence of our community members. Our fight on this front continues now as always…

The goal of our House Keys Not Sweeps campaign is to bring an END to the inhumane, dehumanizing sweeps that the police, public works departments, and contracted security and cleanup crews inflict on our community members.

During the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic, some US cities temporarily stopped sweeping—evicting—people with nowhere else to go. For many, this was their first respite from the constant trauma of displacement in years. Mutual aid groups were born and strengthened, neighbors shared food and water with neighbors, and people organized all kinds of other supports. In short, people momentarily were able to take care of each other in the ways we always do—but without the never-ending threat of eviction.

Yet, with no end to the pandemic in sight and the threat of 30-40 million more people becoming homeless in the months to come, cities have gone back to their old ways. They are once again confiscating people’s survival gear, wheelchairs, food, medicines, treasured photos, and other personal possessions with impunity.

It will come as no surprise that WRAP members are not sitting still! In fact, we are doubling down on our efforts. WRAP members have partnered with groups in TEN cities across the US to lead a NATIONAL campaign to Stop the Sweeps of our community members. Our groups are continuing to provide mutual aid, orchestrate direct actions, lead legislative campaigns, develop grassroots legal support, and join forces with abolitionist groups to END the criminalization of poverty and homelessness.

In the months to come, WRAP has bold plans to create citation defense legal clinics in all of our cities, to support the ongoing local organizing and protect people from criminalization. We also will continue our research on the role of Business Improvement Districts in criminalizing homelessness, collaborate with organizations working to defund the police, connect with national campaigns to decommodify housing, and continue to create powerful artwork. As always, this work is entirely grounded in the leadership of local, accountable organizing groups, who are on the frontlines of the fight for systemic change: people in the streets, parks, and encampments who are daily facing the dehumanization of homelessness—and who are fighting for a more just world.

Please donate today and join us in the fight for justice to come!
We are honored to be in this struggle with you all.
We can’t do it without you.
Thank you!