‘We have nothing.’ Residents, advocates speak out ahead of Atlanta homeless encampment sweep

Housing advocates line up July at City Hall to speak to Atlanta city councilmembers about an upcoming homeless camp sweep Credit Amanda Andrews GPB News Residents of Atlanta s Old Wheat Street encampment have until Thursday to find housing after Atlanta reported a sweep of the homeless camp In January Cornelius Taylor was crushed to death by heavy machinery during a sweep on that same street That s when encampment residents and housing justice organizers formed the Justice for Cornelius Taylor Coalition In June the coalition which advocates for unhoused people submitted an alternative housing proposal to the city but it did not get a response Timothy Franzen is part of the coalition He explained Old Wheat Street residents have lost trust in the city What we have is this whack-a-mole approach of destroying an encampment putting people into temporary housing only to see them back in the street days or weeks later with less property and more desperate he revealed Partners for HOME helps coordinate Atlanta s response to homelessness CEO Cathryn Vassell announced the group has teams on site working with the residents of the encampment There are individuals on the by-name list she explained These individuals have been endorsed to be there over a period of days as the permanent residents of the encampment We are making offers of housing offers to all individuals Lolita Griffeth center speaks in July through tears about her thoughts on Atlanta s plans to clear the Old Wheat Street encampment where she and others live Credit Amanda Andrews GPB News But Nolan English another member of the Justice for Cornelius Taylor Coalition disclosed the list doesn t match the real number of people at the camp The number out there is English stated They re going to quote So that way when we house which just so happens to be the number of rooms they have over at Welcome House when we house then we can say we have housed of the people on old Wheat Street Specific residents of Old Wheat Street disclosed they haven t heard from any outreach groups Lolita Griffeth was in a relationship with Cornelius Taylor for eight years before his death She stated she hasn t been given other housing options It s not about me Griffeth noted All our friends where are we going to live I mean for real Anybody understand what I m saying We don t have nowhere to go We have nothing The coalition is demanding the city postpone the eviction open negotiations and create a plan that includes residents voices The post We have nothing Residents advocates speak out ahead of Atlanta homeless encampment sweep appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta