We launched a Homeless Civic Participation Project to ensure that homeless New Yorkers’ right to vote is honored, that people know their voting rights, including those in jail on Rikers Island– many of whom are incarcerated because they are homeless. Our civic participation team are homeless New Yorkers trained in voting rights and government accountability so that homeless New Yorkers build our capacity to engage with public and elected officials to adopt our agenda for real solutions to homelessness.

Our innovative teach-ins stimulate dialogue around critical issues and how to identify and engage decisionmakers that have power over our issues: including elected and appointed public officials. We provide opportunities for homeless New Yorkers, through grass roots organizing and political education, to utilize their own power, individually and collectively as members of the community to identify and implement real solutions to homelessness as informed voters.

While voter participation is a critical part of the foundation of our democratic system, ongoing engagement with elected officials and appointed public officials from the federal level to our community boards is critical to develop real solutions to homelessness, to end the criminalization of homelessness as public policy and to hold local government accountable for the provision of emergency services and shelter to homeless people.

We are working towards building upon relationships with other homeless led organizations nationwide as we identify issues of national impact, such as criminalization and policies governing affordable housing to develop a national homeless peoples platform.

"I believe that it was Harriet Tubman, the legendary conductor on the underground Railroad who said, “I could’ve freed a whole lot more slaves if only they knew they were slaves.” One important part of getting empowering homeless people is getting them to recognize the rights they have and that they need not be excluded from civic participation because of homelessness. Being homeless doesn’t mean that you can’t:

• ♥ be part of the PTA;
  
• ♥ contact elected officials,
  
• ♥ circulate nominating petitions among their neighbors,
  
• ♥ serve on or speak to their community board,
  
• ♥ travel freely to their pollsites without impediment,
  
• ♥ and, most basically, to chose where they will > register and vote.
  
  

Engendering civic participation by homeless people needs to be an integral component of any plan to combat homelessness. Even when the community doesn’t, like it or want it, homeless people are a critical part of the community. We all need to affirm that uplifting the community cannot be done without lifting people out of homelessness." ~ Rogers