A nationwide effort to amplify the voices of grassroots organizations working to end homelessness.
Date: March 30th, 2023
Washington, DC– The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) is proud to announce the launch of the Local Power Tour, a six month nationwide campaign aimed at ending the criminalization of homelessness. The tour seeks to hold elected officials accountable for policies that punish individuals experiencing homelessness and empower advocates and activists working at the local level to affect change.
“Never before have we seen so many of our neighbors forced to live outdoors without housing, or the level of criminalization of daily survival activities,” says Donald Whitehead, Jr., Executive Director of NCH. “The Local Power Tour is a groundbreaking campaign that will bring attention to the plight of the homeless and empower communities to demand change.”
As part of its efforts to end homelessness, NCH will visit cities where homelessness is a critical issue, as well as cities where communities are already taking steps to address the crisis. By building momentum for a nationwide movement to end homelessness and demanding change from elected officials who create laws that criminalize the homeless, NCH hopes to bring about meaningful change.
“This tour is born of the belief that any lasting national change must be rooted in local action and led by those with lived experience,” states Ramina Davidson, Director of Community Organizing for NCH. Specifically, NCH will be working to encourage compassionate, solution-oriented discussions in local communities that run counter to efforts like encampment raids or ordinances that criminalize people for living without housing.
NCH invites everyone to join the movement and be part of the solution. To learn more about the campaign, visit the NCH website at nationalhomeless.org/local-power-tour.
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NCH is a network of individuals and organizations united by a commitment to end homelessness. The organization has helped draft federal, state, and local legislation, like the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. NCH has long advocated for addressing the root causes of homelessness, including the lack of affordable housing, through policy advocacy (supporting efforts like the Bringing America Home Act), grassroots organizing (building a national movement led by unsheltered individuals), and public education (dispelling negative stereotypes and preserving civil rights of people experiencing homelessness).
Click Here to download the press release.
Press Contact:
Donald Whitehead, Executive Director of NCH | Dwhitehead@nationalhomeless.org
Highlights
Don’t miss out on important updates!
Visit our official page for more information about what we’re doing on the Local Power Tour.
