Homeless Unite with Students to Protest Foreclosures and Homelessness in Chattanooga
(May 6, 2010)
Homeless people, high school and college students, and community leaders marched together through Chattanooga yesterday with the March to Fulfill the Dream and targeted two banks: Bank of America and Sun Trust. Chattanoogans and North Georgians for Economic Human Rights (CHANGERS), organized the march to protest foreclosures and build the movement to elevate housing to the level of a human right. Thanks to Brother Ron and The Chattanooga Community Kitchen there is a growing number of homeless people here who are learning to identify the structural roots of their conditions and take action to make change. This was the third march that the homeless community from Community Kitchen participated in and there was a strong sense of empowerment. The demonstration was part of PPEHRC's May 2010 Month of Action.
"Everything happens for a reason, whether it's good or bad," said Robert, a 20 year old homeless man who has been on the streets since he was a teenager. "I feel like I found my purpose today, and that's to be part of this movement and fight to make things better."
CHANGERS is uniting homeless people with high school girls from Girls Preparatory School and social work students from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga in a powerful and diverse grassroots coalition for economic human rights. Yesterday the group stopped at two banks to demand a moratorium on foreclosures and make visible the banking industry's role in spreading homelessness and poverty. As the foreclosure crisis continues to affect families in record numbers, there is growing resistance nationwide.