Dear Friends:

I recently reported that this summer saw the highest homeless population in ten years.

I think you'll agree that this is an unacceptable situation.

This Thursday at 1pm at City Hall, please come out to a rally organized by the Vote for Homes! coalition to show the next mayor that they need to address issues of homelessness and poverty.

Details below:

Show the Next Mayor You Care About Homelessness and Poverty

Nutter and Taubenberger will attend Vote for Homes! rally and receive thousands of post cards urging action on homelessness and poverty

(PHILADELPHIA) The two men who want to be Philadelphia’s next Mayor will tell hundreds of low-income and homeless Philadelphians how they intend to respond to the fact that Philadelphia’s 25 percent poverty rate is the highest of any large city in America and that street homelessness has doubled since 2000.

Democrat Michael Nutter and Republican Al Taubenberger will attend a rally sponsored by the Vote for Homes! coalition this Thursday, October 25, at City Hall, Dilworth Plaza, at 1:00 p.m. The rally is expected to draw several hundred persons, mostly homeless and low-income persons as well as their allies and supporters. At the rally, homeless persons and advocates will present each candidate with over 2,500 signed post cards from voters urging them to show leadership on solving homelessness and poverty.

Speakers at the rally include Sister Mary Scullion, executive director of Project H.O.M.E. and one of the City’s leading advocates on homelessness; Connie Naylor, a formerly homeless Philadelphian active in organizing voter registration and education in dozens of city shelters; Rev. Bill Golderer of Broad Street Ministry, whose church has hosted an overnight drop-in center for chronically homeless men and women; as well as others. A choir of homeless men will perform musical selections.

“Homelessness and poverty are urgent crises in this city, not just for the men, women, and children who are struggling to survive, but for the economic vitality of the city as a whole,” said Sister Mary Scullion. “We will not make any meaningful progress on becoming ‘the next great city’ unless we have real political leadership on issues of affordable housing, real economic opportunity, and access to quality health care, and education for all our citizens.”

“Low-income, homeless, and disabled Philadelphians are becoming politically empowered,” said Naylor. “Thousands of us are getting politically involved and intend to raise our voices on Election Day, and afterwards.”

During the primary election season, Vote For Homes! distributed 25,000 Voters Guides with responses from all the candidates to a range of questions about affordable housing, homelessness, jobs, and meeting human needs. Over 600 persons, mostly low-income and homeless, attended an April 26 Candidates Forum, at which the three candidates in attendance, Nutter, Taubenberger, and Chaka Fattah, pledged to work on issues of poverty and homelessness.

Vote for Homes! is a broad-based coalition of over 70 organizations throughout the City. The Coalition has registered nearly 2,000 people this election year, and has targeted 120 shelters, soup kitchens, health centers, jails, and probation offices to ensure that low-income Philadelphians are educated, addressed, and included in the electoral process. This collective voice will be instrumental in moving the candidates to speak to the 25,000 homeless, the 150,000 uninsured, and the one in 12 unemployed Philadelphians who will be voting this November. For more information, see www.voteforhomes.org.