We are delighted to report that yesterday the Council unanimously passed a revised budget that prioritized affordable housing, healthcare and support for DC’s homeless families! And we have you to thank for it!

In our final push these last couple of weeks you have helped us turn up the pressure. We interrupted a budget hearing with gospel music and 60 family members from the DC General shelter. We inundated Council members with tweets during their Mark-Up sessions. We sent nearly 600 emails to Council talking about the need to fund homeless services and to move families out of shelter and into housing. And we showed up with 200 people at the Wilson Building for our huge “Day In the Strife” action, challenging the Council to support safety net services. Our members and partners have been doing amazing work beyond that as well, and our combined efforts have made the difference.

Chairman Kwame Brown even gave Fair Budget a shout-out in his opening remarks as he introduced the budget yesterday, referencing our “Day in the Strife” action to demonstrate why the Council needed to prioritize affordable housing. (We talked about more than affordable housing during that action, but we’ll take the compliment!)

Please take a moment to thank Councilmembers for their support with this easy one-click action.

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Here’s what we won in the budget:

(See DCFPI for more complete info)

AFFORDABLE HOUSING: $18 MILLION RESTORED TO THE HOUSING PRODUCTION TRUST FUND  The Council restored $18 million of the $20 million cut from the trust fund in Gray’s proposed budget by redirecting money from the sale of DC-owned property into the fund.

HOMELESS SERVICES: $4 MILLION ADDED TO LOCAL RENT SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM  This will allow between 200 and 300 homeless families to be moved out of shelter into stable housing and given housing subsidies, helping to alleviate the overcrowding at the DC General family shelter and hopefully allowing the shelter to accept new families in need of emergency shelter. It does not restore the $7 million gap in homeless services, but keeps it as number 1 on the Council’s “wish list” for future surplus revenue. The budget also puts as number 5 on the wish list the $1.7 million to add beds for homeless youth.

HEALTHCARE: $23 MILLION FOR THE DC HEALTHCARE ALLIANCE  The Council restored $23 million to the DC HealthCare Alliance, the city’s public health insurance program, ensuring that hospital coverage will continue to be available to residents using the program.

VICTIM’S SERVICES: $1.1 MILLION FOR THE OFFICE OF VICTIM’S SERVICES  This restoration will help provide shelter, counseling, legal services and support to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes. An additional $2.5M was put as number 8 on the Council’s wish list.

THE WISH LIST:  We don’t love the idea of trying to cover budget costs with money that doesn’t exist yet, but we do appreciate how most of the top ten items on the Council’s wish list for how to spend future surplus revenue are safety net priorities: 1) $7M for homeless services; 2) $14.7M for TANF; 3) $9.5M to implement the South Capitol St Memorial Act; 4) $18M for NoMa park (or to prevent park being sold for HPTF money); 5) $1.7M to add beds for homeless youth; 6) $1.6M for various family services; 7) $2.9M for Home Purchase Assistance Program; 8) $2.5M to Ofc of Victim Svcs to offset various cuts; 9) $8.5M for infant/toddler progs; 10) $5M for special ed improvement.

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Our fight is not quite over. There is one more budget vote on June 5th and we think we might be able to get a couple more of our priorities addressed (like delaying the cut to TANF). It’s important in these moments that we make sure the Council knows that we appreciate their support of the safety net. Please remember to take our one-click action to thank the Council for their support and ask them to incorporate our few remaining priorities:

Please click here to thank Councilmembers!

Thank you for all of your support this budget season! We will update you with new developments as budget negotiations continue and as we plan a fun event to celebrate our budget victories!

Pay rent or buy groceries?

Buy a metrocard to get to work or school supplies for your kids?

When faced with the impossible choices that many DC residents have to make, what would DC Council members choose?

A DAY IN THE STRIFE: A Tour of Life on the Poverty Line
Thursday, May 10th, 10am-Noon
At the Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW
(And come on the March for Homeless Services starting at 9am: Scroll down below for details!)

Lunch will be provided
Bring your ID to enter the building

Over the last few years the Mayor and DC Council have cut funding to safety net programs like affordable housing, homeless serivces, TANF, Child Care and more. This year millions more in cuts to these programs are on the chopping block. Meanwhile, DC residents are forced to make impossible choices to make ends meet.

Join us as we fight CUTS to the safety net and show the Councilmembers what it’s really like to live in poverty!

And bring an extra shoe to carry along as we tour! We want to ask Councilmembers to picture what it’s like to walk a mile in our shoes.

For more information contact 202-328-1262 or makeonecitypossible@gmail.com
To learn more about the campaign, visit: www.makeonecitypossible.com

Invite your friends to the event on facebook!
Follow us on Twitter: @FairBudgetDC

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Today is an action day for homeless services! Here’s a one-click action you can take right now to help prevent major cuts.

Homeless services now faces a $7 million budget gap that the Mayor has refused to fill. If this goes through, we are expecting a 50% of homeless individuals will be put out of shelters, any new homeless families outside of hypothermia season will be turned away without help, and food, transportation and outreach services will be drastically reduced. Since last March we have seen a 138% increase in the number of homeless families seeking shelter. To deal with that crisis, the city has put almost 200 families into motels, costing the city $20,000 a day, with no plan to move these families into supportive housing. It would be cheaper in the long run to place 250 families into supportive housing than continuing our policy of placing them into motels. 

Click here to tell Council members to restore funding to homeless services and to invest in putting homeless families into housing rather than motels!

And finally, please join us this Thursday for our climactic “Day in the Strife: A Tour of Live on the Poverty Line” event at the Wilson Building. Join hundreds of DC residents as we tour City Hall in our final major push to pressure Councilmembers to restore funding to safety net services.

A DAY IN THE STRIFE: A Tour of Life on the Poverty Line
Thursday, May 10th: 10:00am-Noon
At the Wilson Building: 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW (Bring your ID to enter the building)
Invite your friends on facebook!

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you Thursday! (And don’t forget to participate in our online action today!)

Chris is about to graduate from high school next month with a full scholarship to Michigan State. He also lives at D.C. General, participates in the Homeless Children Playtime Project’s teen program, and has a message for City Council members: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150697196157109

We’re at that point in the budget where Councilmembers start negotiating within their committees. Today (Wednesday) and Tomorrow (Thursday) Councilmembers need to hear from us to prioritize restoring funding to safety net services.

To make our voices heard during mark-ups, we are going to communicate directly with Councilmembers… through Tweets! Join our Twitter Attack to make sure the Council know the pressure is on to restore funding! Please use the below twitter suggestions to tweet at Council today and tomorrow as they decide what to fund in their committees.

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Committee on Human Services – WEDNESDAY markup Noon

Send these tweets to: @JimGrahamWard1 (chair), @TommyWells, @CMYMA, @marionbarryjr, @CMMichaelABrown

Homeless families/funding:

·         End the Hunger Games: restore homeless services gap and put 250 families in housing! #dcfy13

·         Looking forward to [insert Councilmember] supporting homeless kids in #dcfy13 budget

·         Cuts hurt in #dcfy13. Please restore homeless services $ [insert Councilmember]

·         Don’t gamble with kids’ lives: invest in affordable housing for 250 families in #dcfy13.

·         Everyone deserves a safe place to sleep. That won’t happen without your #dcfy13 vote [insert Councilmember].

·         Kids need homes. So do grown-ups. $$ for homeless services, affordable housing in #dcfy13!

TANF:

·         [insert Councilmember] Could you & family live on $257/mo? Pls don’t force #TANF families to try. #dcfy13

·         [insert Councilmember] Pls give #TANF families a chance to benefit from program improvements before more benefits cuts. #dcfy13

·         [insert Councilmember] Pls don’t punish #TANF families 4 program failures. Postpone benefits cuts in #dcfy13 budget.

Interim Disability Assistance:

·         [Insert Councilmember] Support DC residents waiting for #SSI – Support DC residents waiting for #SSI – restore $2.4M to Interim Disability Assistance. #dcfy13

·         [Insert Councilmember] Only $270/month – it’s the least DC can do. Fully fund Interim Disability Assistance. #dcfy13

Committee on Housing and Workforce Development – WEDNESDAY markup 11 am (NOW!)

Send these tweets to: @CMMichaelABrown (chair), @marionbarryjr, @VincentOrangeDC

Homeless families/funding:

·         End the Hunger Games: restore homeless services gap and put 250 families in housing! #dcfy13

·         Looking forward to [insert Councilmember] supporting homeless kids in #dcfy13 budget

·         Cuts hurt in #dcfy13. Please restore homeless services $ [insert Councilmember]

·         Don’t gamble with kids’ lives: invest in affordable housing for 250 families in #dcfy13.

·         Everyone deserves a safe place to sleep. That won’t happen without your #dcfy13 vote [insert Councilmember].

·         Kids need homes. So do grown-ups. $$ for homeless services, affordable housing in #dcfy13!

Committee on the Judiciary – THURSDAY markup 11 am

Send these tweets to: @JackEvansWard2, @marycheh, @MurielBowser, @marionbarryjr

Victim Services:

·         D.C. can’t ignore the needs of domestic violence victims – fund victim services bit.ly/ovsfy13 #dcfy13

·         Without more victim services $ #dcfy13, we’ll all face the consequences. [insert Councilmember] bit.ly/ovsfy13

·         Without action by [insert Councilmember] domestic violence shelters will decrease beds. Fund Victim Services! #dcfy13

·         D.C. can’t turn more victims away from life-saving services. Fund victim services bit.ly/ovsfy13 #dcfy13

Committee on Health – THURSDAY markup Noon

Send these tweets to: @marycheh, @TommyWells, @CMYMA, @marionbarryjr

Healthcare Alliance:

·         Health care is a human right! Restore funding for Alliance #dcfy13

·         [insert Councilmember] Support a healthy DC – fight to restore Alliance! #dcfy13

Committee of the Whole (Education) – THURSDAY markup 5 pm

Send these tweets to: @Kwamebrowndc (chair), @JackEvansWard2, @marycheh, @MurielBowser, @TommyWells, @CMYMA, @marionbarryjr, @CMMichaelABrown, @VincentOrangeDC

Adult Education:

·         [Insert Councilmember] Let’s ensure GEDs for all. Invest $1.1M in the Accelerated Learning Initiative. #dcfy13

·         [Insert Councilmember] Increase job opps for #DC residents with $1.1M in the Accelerated Learning Initiative. #dcfy13

Child Care:

·         [Insert Councilmember] 5.7 million cut from child care = 400 more families without childcare. Fund the subsidy #dcfy13

·         [Insert Councilmember] Please restore childcare funds from local $ and help teen moms stay in school. #dcfy13

·         [Insert Councilmember] Over 40k families eligible for the child care subsidy voucher program. Fund it! #dcfy13

·         Over 10,000 families on waiting lists of child care centers in the District. More to come without more $! #dcfy13

·         Make the intake process for child care more accessible so families can return to work and school. #dcfy13

·         Raise childcare providers reimbursement rates up to 2010 market so providers can stay in business! #dcfy13

In the wake of Mayor Vincent Gray’s proposed budget cuts to critical housing, homelessness, and family support services, sixty homeless children and parents interrupted the Budget Support Act hearing today and handed their city representatives hand-painted houses with the message “Kids Need Homes” written on them, as a young man sang a gospel song.   The kids and their parents are among 283 families currently staying at the DC General family shelter.   With the houses, they also delivered a message to their councilmembers:  “Every child needs a safe place to sleep.  That won’t happen without your vote.”

The families took over the hearing because unprecedented numbers of children are suffering from homelessness in the nation’s capital today and no children are being placed in shelter right now because there is no space. One mother, Tiffany McLeod expressed her frustration with the lack of a safety net for families experiencing homelessness: “I have two young children and we need housing. I don’t want to see anybody’s kids sleeping on the street.”

Despite the astronomical increase in the demand for shelter and affordable housing, the Mayor’s proposed budget for FY13 includes a $7 million gap in homeless services funding, no new investment in affordable housing programs, and a proposed $5.6 million cut in TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families).  If this cut isn’t restored, hundreds of children will be forced to sleep in unsafe places like parks and abandoned buildings and DC will have to close half of its men and women’s shelters next spring.

From 2008-2011, family homelessness increased by 46% in the District; nationally, it only increased by 1% in that same period.   Between March of 2011 and March 2012, the number of families in DC’s hypothermia shelter and motels skyrocketed 138%.    This increase correlates directly with the lack of affordable housing in the District, the second least affordable housing jurisdiction in the nation.

Housing ends homelessness, and it is far less expensive than shelters and motels. According to Amber W. Harding, a staff attorney at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, “At a cost of only $4 million in 2013, DC could place 250 families in affordable housing, actually save money this year, and provide shelter to more families desperately in need. And it would be a far more humane approach to homelessness.”

Recently, Tyanna, a sixth grader who lives at DC General family shelter wrote an essay about being homeless:  “Being homeless is a big challenge for me because my family and I do not have any money for us to get on the bus or to get a house. The only things we can afford are clothes and shoes. We have to get tokens from the school in order to get on the bus. When my brothers and sisters and I come home late we are not able to eat dinner. We have to eat Bowl of Noodles and other instant ramen noodles for dinner. This makes me feel sad because every time we are late we always have to eat noodles and it never fills us up.”

The families who came out to the hearing today will not rest until the DC Council passes a budget that responds to the crisis that they’re experiencing. “We want to stop the budget cuts. We’re doing everything we can,” Taujah Stroud stated, “We hope if we bring enough people down here, they’ll see that we actually do need housing.”

Now we can look ahead! Our last giant push for a just and inclusive budget is  May 10^th from 10am-12pm, when we will host “A Day in the Strife,” at the John A. Wilson building, during which community members and advocates will meet at City Hall and give City Council members a “tour” of life on the poverty line. We hope you’ll join us!