At noon on Tuesday November 14th, in front of the Federal
Building a press conference was held as part of the release of the Western
Regional Advocacy Project's (WRAP) report called, "Without Housing:
Decades of Federal Housing Cutbacks, Massive Homelessness, and Policy
Failures." In seven cities across
the country similar press conferences were held, including ones in Seattle,
Washington, and San
Juan, Puerto Rico.
The speakers, who along with WRAP representatives came from a Bay Area wide coalition of poverty justice organizers including The Coalition on Homelessness and POOR Magazine, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency and American Friends Service Committee reiterated the need for systemic change to end homelessness. The report includes many harsh statistics on the cuts in federal funding for affordable housing and its direct connection to homelessness all over the nation
WRAP's report is a call to action. The report is an example of a group of people, who are directly affected by federal and local policies around poverty and homelessness, taking charge to determine and affect those policies.
As Paul Boden, from WRAP, said, "the report is meant to be used as an organizing and training tool." Boden also described how WRAP was formed and what their vision for the report is.
He said, "WRAP was formed by many organizations and individuals coming together out of frustration, and out of a commitment to social justice. We are folks who come from the streets. We are bright and talented, and we don't need people's charity..The government blames us for
