The Homeless Union’s Winter Offensive is a series of synchronized actions and protests that take place on “key dates” during the Holiday Season (from Thanksgiving through Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday) in order to highlight the time of year when the poor and homeless experience the most deadly conditions and the highest rates of suicide and death.
The National Union of the Homeless comes together across 5 U.S. regions (the South, Appalachia, Midwest, West and Northeast) to declare: Housing and Healthcare NOW. An End to Genocide and the War Economy! No More Death on the Streets Both Here and Abroad!
We work together to fulfill our mission statement, declaring that “we commit our lives to ending homelessness and poverty and to work tirelessly for the human right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, for social and economic justice for all.”
As part of the National Winter Offensive Organizing Drive we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and commemorate his life as a Revolutionary.
In a time when there's a relentless push to commercialize this holiday season we're fighting to “Put Christ back into Christmas” –The Revolutionary Christ who fed the hungry, healed the sick, cared for the poor, and built a love revolution to bring down the oppressive power structure of his time.
Our Winter Offensive honors Jesus Christ for the Revolutionary that he was and takes up his message to love one another and organize to end the wars on the poor both here and abroad!
The ‘Longest Night’, also referred to as Homeless Memorial Day, is always December 21st. It is the longest night of the year, the Winter Solstice, the longest night of darkness for our siblings living outside.
On this day/evening we condemn the mass graves of unnamed poor and homeless men, women, and children in potters’ fields around the country and internationally. We honor those we have lost due to this unjust system that denies us our basic human rights and pledge to honor them by continuing to unite and organize for human rights for all!
Philadelphia PA – A dozen carolers from the Philly Homeless Union and Put People First! PA braved the cold rain to sing altered Christmas carols outside of Mayor Parker’s “State of the City” address.
The carolers greeted city employees and others attending the Mayor’s address, singing “Housing Now!” to the tune of “Jingle Bells.” The chorus of “Housing Now!” is “Housing now, housing now, it’s our human right! No more death on the street! O! Won’t you join the fight?”
The Philly Homeless Union also distributed a flier giving their own assessment of the state of the city: chaotic, challenged, and cruel. They cited the Mayor’s crackdown in Kensington which led directly to at least one death in the jails, the failures of the Wellness Court, chaotic Code Blues, the Mayor’s reluctance to target funding to poor Philadelphians in her HOME plan, and inadequate conditions in city shelters in their assessment.
The group sang a version of the 12 Days of Christmas which echoed their assessment of the state of the city: On the 12th day of Christmas the mayor gave to me Shelters taking meds Unfair curfews Police harassment Destroying tents Skimpy, spoiled meals Incarceration Mold on the walls Years on waiting lists Bedbugs in the sheets Seniors turned away Babies in the streets And a shelter to punish poverty
Finally, the group read a statement from the National Union of the Homeless, which noted the poverty amid plenty in cities, across the country, and around the world: “We know there's enough food to feed everyone and that there are 24 empty homes for every single individual in need of one while 1000 souls will freeze to death on the streets this year and homelessness and poverty continues to rise at record numbers! We declare NO MORE.”
https://youtu.be/xV8YHKpoi64?si=WW8HuVPXG15h5oWv
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Change comes from below not above! The system will not save us, we must unite, organize and save each other! Join the growing poverty abolitionist movement!
To join the Philly Homeless Union chapter contact: Email: phillyhomelessunion@gmail.com Phone: (215)-360-3086
Not in Philly PA but want to join the National Union of the Homeless? Send an email to 2020nuh@gmail.com