Stop criminalizing homelessness: Homes Not Handcuffs coalition to rally at Austin City Hall prior to vote
Thursday’s City Council vote offers the possibility for Austin to decriminalize homelessness
WHAT: Community rally and press conference
WHO: Homes Not Handcuffs coalition, Council Member Greg Casar and Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison
WHEN: Thursday, June 20th 2019; 6:00 CST
WHERE: Austin City Hall, outside plaza
Additional Notes: Paid parking available at City Hall Parking Garage
AUSTIN, Tex. — This Thursday, June 20th, the Austin City Council has the opportunity to decriminalize homelessness in the city when they reconsider the current laws banning camping, solicitation and sitting or lying down in the downtown area.
The Homes Not Handcuffs coalition, composed of local community organizations and individuals experiencing homelessness, will rally outside Austin City Hall to demand that Mayor Steve Adler and Austin Councilmembers pass Item 185, which would end criminalization of unavoidable behaviors associated with experiencing homelessness.
The coalition includes Grassroots Leadership, Texas Advocates for Justice, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, Texas Fair Defense Project, Texas Rising of the Texas Freedom Network, Gathering Ground Theatre, Texas Interfaith and DSA-Austin.
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Grassroots Leadership is an Austin, Texas-based national organization that works for a more just society where prison profiteering, mass incarceration, deportation, and criminalization are things of the past. Follow us @Grassroots_News.
