Housing is a human right. All DC residents are entitled to safe, stable, and secure housing.

DC has unprecedented resources to provide housing and support to our unhoused neighbors. Forcibly removing our unhoused neighbors is not necessary for them to receive housing and support. The DC government can provide housing and support without traumatizing evictions, displacement, and destruction of personal belongings.

I support Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau’s proposed emergency legislation to pause evictions of our unhoused neighbors and removal of their private property until at least the end of hypothermia season. This proposed legislation would enhance DC’s efforts to provide housing and support to our unhoused neighbors.

The DC government’s evictions have been inhumane and make it more difficult and more complicated to provide housing and support. I was appalled and disgusted to see our  government bulldoze an unhoused neighbor. Anyone who has witnessed evictions knows they are violent. The stated goals of the encampment eviction program ring hollow: a dedication to ensuring no one lives in the street cannot be accomplished via a program that results in displacement and the destruction of belongings. Permanent, safe, and supportive housing solves homelessness without displacement, and increasing access to affordable housing keeps people from becoming unhoused in the first place.

These evictions threaten our public health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to advise allowing individuals living in encampments to remain where they are. “Clearing encampments can cause people to disperse throughout the community and break connections with service providers. This increases the potential for infectious disease spread.” We must fund and implement the services for encampments in Councilmember Nadeau’s proposal for the safety of our neighbors and community.

I urge the DC Council to join me in supporting Councilmember Nadeau’s proposed emergency legislation. We must do more to care for our community and this is a step in the right direction.