NLIHC joined national housing and homelessness organizations to release a joint public statement on June 30 in support of Black people and Black organizers working on housing justice. The statement echoes demands to divest from criminal legal systems and invest in Black communities, emphasizing the urgent need to reinvest in housing in Black communities and underscoring the harm and racial injustice of over-policing in homeless communities – two policy matters directly tied to NLIHC’s mission.
According to the statement, “Re-envisioning public safety…creates an opportunity to reshape how communities support their neighbors struggling with housing. Criminalizing homelessness and investing in police as a front-line response to homelessness only opens the door to more brutality and discrimination and worsens the devastating effects that police have in Black and brown communities. Instead, these funds could be used to create thriving communities with affordable, accessible housing.”
In signing onto the statement, NLIHC is committing to use its platform and resources to dismantle racist institutions, advance just policies, and amplify Black voices and solutions as the way to solve America’s homelessness and housing crisis.
Other organizational signatories include National Alliance to End Homelessness, CSH, National Innovation Service, Community Solutions, A Way Home America, Funders Together to End Homelessness, and other national leaders.
Read the full statement at: https://tinyurl.com/y75qtvge