We the Unhoused

This week, Theo gives insight into what the election means for the unhoused population, and speaks with activists on how to move forward. Rooflesser returns to the show to discuss their work on the ground in LA, and we check in with home reclaimer and advocate Martha Escuerdo to talk about her continued fight for safe and sustainable housing.

Follow Rooflesser here:

 https://x.com/rooflesser

Follow Martha and the reclaimers here: 

https://reclaimingourhomes.org/

Martha's GoFundMe here: 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/roh-eviction-defense?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp_guide_do&member=23980295&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaacbK7ZifQKOIKl7BDWFNecK55yFoHqgwLa99w3V6972xQu-S2dPL4j6BA_aem_E1B2NBvWaOlNoIVy3m7g5Q

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This week, Theo checks in with two candidates for judge we spoke with earlier this year -- George Turner and Erika Wiley. We discuss what's changed with the Grants Pass decision, the journey to the ballot box, and the pressing need for local politicians that are advocating for the unhoused.

Learn more about George here:

https://georgeaturner4judge.com/

Learn more about Erika here: 

https://www.wileyforjudge.com/

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Ahead of the election, Theo dives deep into why the unhoused vote is so crucial with Dr. Caitlin Krenn. Also, Theo speaks with Oregon-based activist Jetty about how Grants Pass legislation is already affecting the intensity of sweeps across the country.

Follow Jetty here: 

https://www.instagram.com/junkartlady/ https://www.instagram.com/barefootdefenders/
Follow Dr. Krenn here: 

https://www.caitlinkrenn.com/ 

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Theo continues his exploration of the wreckage of the Grants Pass ruling with a focus on the effects of youth houselessness, and goes in depth with Dr. Robin Petering and Tonny St. James to discuss the Young People to the Front initiative. But first, Theo speaks with Emptea about the uptick of evictions in Los Angeles in district one, and how they're taking City Councillor Hernandez to task for failing to protect residents like them from eviction.

Follow Young People to the Front here: 

https://www.instagram.com/youngpeopletothefront/

Venmo Emptea at @emptea

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This week, Theo is on the ground for a brutal Grant's Pass motivated sweep of a long term, vulnerable unhoused community in El Monte, CA this month. He speaks with people affected, and asks sheriffs and Army CORPS members on how one can justify sweeping and threatening to arrest allies assisting the unhoused in the middle of a triple-digit heat wave. How are sweeps changing now that the Supreme Court has empowered them? The reality is gruesome.

Then, Theo speaks with returning guest Kath Rogers, an attorney with the Southern California ACLU, who gives a detailed perspective on how the establishment is taking advantage of the Grant's Pass decision, how it differs from policies under the Martin v. Boise decision, and how the unhoused can defend themselves in the face of this horror.

Learn more about Kath's work here: 

https://www.aclusocal.org/en/biographies/kath-rogers

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It's a busy week on We the Unhoused -- Theo travels between California and Michigan to take a closer look at the intersecting struggles of the unhoused and the housing-insecure. 

First, we speak with journalist Phoenix Tso of LA Public Press and Alejandro Gutierrez of the Hillside Villa Tenant Association on the current struggle to keep longtime residents housed in the face of brutal landlord rent hikes and complicity within the city government. 

Then, we head to Michigan, where Theo speaks to Tyree Guyton of the Heidelberg Project in Detroit, where we discuss how art and political education intersect with the liberation of the unhoused people.

Over on Unhoused News, Theo continues to cover the developing horrors of the Grant's Pass Supreme Court decision, and discusses the current brutal heat wave across LA.

Follow the Hillside Villa Tenant Association here: https://www.instagram.com/hillsidevilla_

Follow Phoenix Tso here: 

https://www.instagram.com/phoenixtso

Follow the Heidelberg Project here:

 https://www.heidelberg.org/history 

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Theo concludes the We the Unhoused trip to the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference in July, and reflects on the conference's urgency on the heels of the Grant's Pass Supreme Court decision. 

He speaks with three interviewees, who share how they've turned their lived experience with being unhoused into advocacy for others -- Curtis Howard, Rachel Parker, and Tawanna Simpson share the state of advocacy from across the country.

Plus: California governor Gavin Newsom and San Francisco mayor London Breed begin the slow process of using Grant's Pass to punish local unhoused residents and destroy encampments in our Unhoused News Segment.

Learn more about the NAEH conference here:

https://endhomelessness.org/events/conferences/2024-national-conference-on-ending-homelessness-and-capitol-hill-day/

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Theo's adventures in Washington continue this week, with two more interviews from the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference in July. First, Albert Townsend, the Director of Lived Experience at the Alliance, shares his story; then, Theo attends the "Lessons Learned from the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program" talk and speaks with Tatiana Reis and Lenn Dittmeier.

Learn more about YHDP here: 

https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/yhdp/ 

Learn more about Albert here:

 https://endhomelessness.org/who-we-are/our-people/

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Today we're sharing our first episode from Theo's summer trip to Washington, D.C., for the National Alliance for Ending Homelessness Conference. Theo attends a thought provoking presentation featuring Melissa Chinchilla and Deyanira Nevárez Martínez: Latinx Houselessness, Understanding and Addressing Double Up Houselessness. 

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Description: Theo heads over to Painted Brain LA to meet with artist-in-residence Amanda Nicholson, whose work explores the diversity and uniqueness of the unhoused experience. Plus, Theo checks in for Unhoused News all the way from Washington DC, where he just finished covering the National Alliance to End Homelessness conference.

Follow Painted Brain LA: https://paintedbrain.org/

Help Keep a Queer Black Femme Moving! Fundraiser: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/82Prif

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.