Phoenix Homeless Rising: Power to the People!

I'm proud to call these masked beings my friends and comrades on this journey...

in Solidarity -

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Protesters speak out against mistreatment in Phoenix homeless shelters

By Chloe Brooks, on Thursday, September 29th, 2011

ASU - Downtown Devil

Masked demonstrators gathered near ASU’s Downtown campus Wednesday to protest treatment of the homeless in Phoenix shelters.

Phoenix Homeless Rising, an anti-homelessness advocacy group, began holding banners and signs in front of the A. E. England building around 3 p.m. across the street from the Walter Cronkite School. Approximately 20 protesters spoke with passers-by for nearly two hours, encouraging them to hold government officials and service providers accountable for the mistreatment of the city’s homeless.

Some protesters wore party masks to conceal their identities, hoping to avoid retaliation from their homeless shelters, while others declined to speak for fear of eviction from their shelters.

“People don’t really have the right to free speech, despite what the Constitution says,” said Elizabeth Venable, leader of Wednesday’s demonstration. “They can get thrown out of shelters just for protesting. So we’re not showing our identities, but in a fun way.”

One of the demonstrators’ many complaints concerned the allocation of state funding in regards to the homeless.

“We want to mobilize the homeless so their voices are heard in the public arena,” Venable said.

Wednesday’s protest follows close on the heels of Tuesday’s postal-workers rally in the same location but was not inspired by it, protesters said. This demonstration had been planned for nearly a month, according to Venable, and was an attempt to gain support before the organization addresses the City Council at its meetings next Wednesday and Oct. 19.

The organization plans to present a report consisting of over 100 personal accounts of mistreatment within the city’s shelter system, and it hopes to achieve recognition of its grievances.

“We want to have a mechanism for oversight, as well as an increase in funding,” said Venable. “In the long run, yes, the service providers need more funding, but they should also be held accountable. We just want to make sure these issues are on (the City Council’s) radar, because no one else is going to bring them up.”

Contact the reporter at chloe.brooks@asu.edu