Stolen Land Liberation

Sweeps-Free Sanctuary Communities launched Across California

Houseless artists, housed allies and spiritual leaders create Sanctuary from violent, deadly sweeps across so-called California

What: Sweeps-Free Sanctuary ComeUnities, Resource fairs/Free Stores “Homeless Peoples Solutions to homelessness” art installations & Press Conferences Across California

When & Where:

11am City Hall in Yelamu (San Francisco)

3pm City Hall in Huchiun (Oakland)

9am City Hall in Yocut lands (Fresno)

11am City Hall in Sogorea Te (Vallejo)

12 noon City Hall in Chief Siah'l (Seattle)

11am at Aetna Street Solidarity 6060 Van Nuys Blvd Tovaangar (LA)



On Tuesday, December 17th in response to increasingly violent and relentless sweeps of houseless residents of California, houseless and formerly houseless sweeps survivors along with housed allies and spiritual leaders will launch “sweeps-free sanctuary comeUnities” at City Halls and other public land sites in Yelamu (San Francisco), Huchiun (Oakland), Yocut (Fresno), Tovaangar (Los Angeles) and Sogorea Te (Vallejo) and Chief Sia’hl (Seattle).

In addition to providing crucial resources for fellow houseless relatives in the cold, wet winter, we will be presenting solutions to homelessness created by us houseless people. Solutions that are healing housing models like Homefulness and Wood Street Commons Community As well as looking at the example of Tent city 3 - created by SHARE/WHEEL in Seattle, Washington - which coulcd be replicated by cities and counties across the US

“Public land should be for the public, instead we face violent sweeps,” said La Monte Ford, Wood Street Commons Sweeps survivor.

Following the Grants Pass Vs Johnson Superme Court Ruling that deemed houseless residents of the US no longer protected by the 8th amemdment of the constitution California Gov. Gavin Newsom enhanced his already violent "sweeps" policy of houseless people by directing state agencies to dismantle homeless encampments on state land. He also threatened cities across the state with drastic budget cuts if they didnt comply with his clearing orders. Hundreds of houseless elders and disabled adults lives have become gravely endangered and have died in increasing numbers due to this state sponsored violence over the last several months.

"Sweeping my mama and me caused us to lose multiple shelters, tents and cars we slept in and eventually each other. Sweeping, jailing and harassing us houseless people never gets us a home, or "solves" our homelessness, it just makes our homelessness more dangerous and more deadly, said Tiny gray-garcia, formerly houseless, incarcerated, co-founder of POOR Magazine, a poor and houseless people-led movement and Homefulness - a homeless peoples solution to homelessness that currently houses 22 formerly houseless youth, adults and elders.

All the government "Solutions" like Cabin Communities and shelters have failed to create the necessaary foundation unhoused people need to be able to rebuild our lives, said John Janasko, houseless resident leader at Wood Street Commons, a community of houseless people working to organize and support fellow houseless people.

“There is no social justice in criminalizing our unhoused community there is no solution in solving homelessness by incarceration,” Junebug Keaoloha,formerly houseless Community health workers and poverty skola with POOR Magazine /San Francisco

“200 years ago, before colonization there wasn’t even a concept of homelessness,” said Talking chief/spokesperson of the confederated villages of Lisjan/Ohlone and co-founder of the Sogorea Te Land Trust and Family Elders Council member of Homefulness.

"We center the launching of these sweeps-free sanctuary comeUnities in liberation of occupied and stolen indigenous land because we cannot talk about homelessness without talking about indigenous and Black Land theft, return and reparations, the violent history of indigenous land theft and genocide of colonization, chattle slavery, false borders and mass incarceration of Black, Brown, Indigenous and Disabled houseless peoples have led to the collective trauma of so many of us on the street and then we are terrorized by hundreds of laws that criminalize our bodies for being poor, without a roof, sleeping in our car, in doorways, in parks, on streets and in tents on so-called public (read: stolen) land. " concluded tiny gray-garcia

“The city, the so-called service providers—they’re not offering anybody anything. They’re just leaving us destitute. What should we get instead? We should get treated like the human beings that we are. I should get treated like your brother or sister.” - Giselle “Gelly” Harrell, Aetna Street Solidarity, Aetna Street Solidarity is an intergenerational community of housed & unhoused people organizing in Van Nuys against the criminalization of the poor currenlty working with POOR Magazine to create their own Homefulness Project..

Homefulness -is a homeless peoples solution to homelessness which just welcomed their 22nd houseless family into rent-free forever housing is one of the models we are presenting at the Sweeps-Free Sanctury ComeUnities.We are currently working with houseless comeUnities in San Francisco, LA, Seattle to create their own Homefulness Projects and on a second site of Homefulness in Oakland

Wood Street Sanctuary Community - is a collaboration with affordable housing architect Mike Pyatok over the last year to envision a community-led solution to homelessness which houses teachers, working class families and the unhoused and includes an academy, a jobs program, dental care, health care and mental health care on site.

In addition to press conferences, free stores, art installations, prayer vigils and sanctuary communities, housed allies will be standing, working and speaking up with houseless leaders to show their support for actual solutions, not more violent sweeps.