Dear Friends,

Lots happening so lots of chances to get involved. Check it out-hit the streets with some great groups and have a blast!

Remember it ain't a revolution if you can't dance to it!!!

Join us for Pitch a Tent 2018!!!

Pitch A Tent is an annual direct action event produced by Right2Survive that celebrates the resiliency of the houseless community while highlighting the hypocrisy of the city who allow housed folks to camp for the Rose Parade; all while conducting sweeps of houseless shelters.

Through music, speakers, fun and free food, Pitch A Tent is an opportunity to hear from the houseless community themselves and their efforts to make a better Portland for everyone.

Houseless and housed folks alike are welcome to help us send this clear message to the city: sweeping houseless folks, while promoting housed folks to camp for Rose Parade is hypocritical and dangerous.

This year Pitch A Tent will be held on Friday June 8th and runs from 10:30am 6/8 to 10:30am 6/9, with main events beginning Friday evening. (Schedule coming soon!) Everybody is welcome to camp! Free set up tents will be made available but donations are always needed!

Pitch A Tent is *free* but if you are able to help please check out ways to contribute below...

To make the 8th annual Pitch A Tent a great success we will need all hands on deck!

See facebook even here >>>>>>

***We will need a variety of volunteers. These range from Peace Keeping, Cross-Class Messengers, Food Prep, donations (food, gear, entertainment!) and Set Up/ Tear Down.
Please think about where you have natural skill and interest before signing up for a position, or more than one position.

To find out how you can volunteer/donate please PM us through our Facebook messenger.

End the War on the Poor - Join us Sunday June 10,
4pm- 6pm , Eureka California - Know Your Rigths, You Don't Need A Home To Vote.

It's that time again and I'm hoping to see you at our annual "Freedom Now" Awards and Celebration, which is shaping up to be a historic gathering. It's happening on June 16th 2018, from 5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at: 838 E. 6th Street, CA 90021-our permanent home!

"Freedom Now" is much more than the book we released in 2012, much more than our annual celebration, it's the idea that fuels our vision, strategies, and determination to win. Click HERE to view the sponsorship package.

Our 2018 Honorees will continue the tradition of bringing together the most powerful artists, social action academics, activists, and thought leaders to celebrate LA CAN's work. We will honor Professor Kelly Lytle Hernandez & UCLA Million Dollar Hoods Project; Artivist, Mike De La Rocha (Revolve Impact); internationally celebrated, political recording artist, Mandeep Sethi (SETI X); dynamic civil rights attorney, Shayla Myers (Legal Aid Foundation Los Angeles); educator, filmmaker and 'Father of Leimert Park' Ben Caldwell and, the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Read Los Angeles Community Action Network
(LACAN) Full Invitation Click Here >>>>>>

Sacramento hit with federal lawsuit seeking to overturn city's panhandling ordinance

BY SAM STANTON AND RYAN LILLIS - The Sacramento Bee

Homeless advocates have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Sacramento, alleging that a panhandling ordinance adopted in November violates the free speech rights of citizens asking for handouts.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court late Tuesday on behalf of well-known homeless activist James Lee "Faygo" Clark, seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions against enforcing the ordinance, which bans soliciting within 30 feet of ATMs or banks, at driveway entrances to businesses or near bus stops.

The suit was filed on behalf of Clark and the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and Legal Services of Northern California.

The 12-page complaint calls the ordinance a clear violation of the First
Amendment right to free speech and one that "is taking away one of the few legal and safe means for homeless individuals to obtain money for necessities."

"The ordinance effectively bans a wide range of protected speech in large swaths of the city," the suit says. "In addition, although it is styled as an aggressive and intrusive solicitation ordinance, the law criminalizes purely passive activity such as sitting peacefully on the sidewalk with a sign or a donation cup."

City officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit comes as the city and other regional governments find themselves casting about for solutions to the homeless crisis they face. At Sacramento City Hall, homeless people sleep nightly under the eaves of the building and have been the subject of efforts by city officials to extend services and housing to them, including a $108 million partnership with the county that has been led by Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

But efforts to deal with the region’s homeless population have included ordinances aimed at limiting where homeless people may panhandle or live.

Measures in Sutter County and Yuba City that prohibited camping in public spots such as in cars or along the Feather River prompted a civil rights suit filed in Sacramento federal court in March, and resulted in in a preliminary injunction last week that prohibits enforcement of the ordinance or seizure of homeless citizens property.

The Sacramento ordinance was adopted unanimously by the council following complaints from business and tourism groups about aggressive panhandling, and it has been controversial from the start. The night of its adoption on Nov. 14, 2017, four people were removed from the council chambers for raising their voices during the debate.

Under the ordinance, first-time offenders can be cited for an infraction and fined, and individuals who violate it more than twice can face up to six months in jail and a fine of $500 to $1,000.

The lawsuit describes Clark as a homeless man who routinely solicits handouts of food or money in Sacramento, sometimes along 21st Street, where he sits with his dog and two signs asking for money, with a cup for donations set between them.

He also stands on the sidewalk at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op at 28th and R streets, seeking donations of healthy food or cash, the suit says.

"Mr. Clark selects his locations based on his experience of where he is most successful obtaining donations," the suit says, noting that his chosen spot near the Co-op puts him within 30 feet of a Regional Transit bus stop and the co-op's driveways, both violations of the ordinance.

Read Full lawsuit SRCEH v. City of Sacramento Filed Complaint here >>>>

Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on his mission to the United States of America

The United States' principal strategy for dealing with extreme poverty is to criminalise and stigmatise those in need of assistance, a report by a UN independent expert has found.
"For one of the world's wealthiest countries to have 40 million people living in poverty and over five million living in ‘Third World’ conditions is cruel and inhuman," the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, said in a new report.

"The Right to Rest Act introduced in California, Colorado and Oregon is an example of the type of legislative approach needed to shift from the criminal justice response to a human rights-centred response to homelessness."

Mr. Philip Alston Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

The report, to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council on 21 June, delivers Alston's findings from a fact-finding visit to California, Alabama, Georgia, Puerto Rico, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. from 1 to 15 December 2017.

Read press realesed here>>>>>>
Read full report here >>>>>>>

Our BADASS friend is biking from Portland to San Francisco AND raising funds at the same time!
That's really cool!

See facebook event here >>>>>>>

I'm biking from Portland, OR to San Francisco (that's 8 hundo miles!) and raising money for the Western Regional Advocacy Project along the way! If you think I'm a glutton for biking-punishment-then donate! If you think everyone deserves basic needs being met- then donate! If you think the OR and CA coast are beautiful-then donate! If you believe in community organizing led by poor and houseless people-then donate! WRAP is a coalition that supports the organizing work of three ahhmazing groups of people in Portland that I feel very strongly about: Sisters of the Road, Street Roots, and Right 2 Survive.

These non-profits are dedicated in their own unique ways to ending homelessness and poverty and believe wholeheartedly in houseless people leading that charge. WRAP ensures that our organizations are able to collaborate and connect in this shared struggle; it fosters a sense of community across city and state lines. Check out my first blog post about it here:

https://shannonsbikeadventure.wordpress.com/2018/05/26/why-ride-for-wrap/

Badass people doing kickass work-help me reach my goal!

Oregon Poor People's Campaign - 40 days of Action Against Policy Violence!

WRAP is an endorser of the Poor People's Campaign: National Call for Moral Revival and Oregon Poor People's Campaign is in the midst of 40 days of action with 41 other states across the country and in our capital of WA DC. We've already had two powerful days of action in Salem-read more here. We are asking the lawmakers to stop creating policy violence that supports poverty, systemic racism, the war economy and ecological devastation.

The next days of action in Oregon are Monday, June 11th and Monday, June 18th. For more information go to poorpeoplescampaign.org and fill in the pledge form, go to OregonPPC on FaceBook or email Oregon@poorpeoplescampaign.org.