Coalition mobilizes homeless, ex-offender, and low-income vote in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA – In an historic presidential election that may ultimately be decided by voter turn-out, a local coalition is working to make sure that thousands of homeless and low-income Philadelphians make it to the polls.

The nonpartisan Vote for Homes! Coalition will have more than one hundred and forty trained volunteers working on Election Day, Tuesday, November 4. Teams of volunteers will fan out across the City to reach registered voters in 250 shelters, soup kitchens, service agencies, health centers and ex-offender organizations, offering rides, voter protection and other assistance. The Vote for Homes! Command Center, located at Project H.O.M.E.’s 1515 Fairmount Avenue residence, will be coordinating the day-long effort. Reporters are welcome at 1515 Fairmount Avenue where they can interview voter mobilization teams and ride along to area shelters, halfway houses, and human service programs.

Hyacinth King, a formerly homeless person who has worked as a voter mobilization volunteer the past several Election Days, says this year’s election is especially important. “Many of us are frustrated because we haven’t heard the candidates address issues of homelessness and poverty. They are offering solutions for the middle-class, but ignoring the 37 million Americans who live below the poverty line, and the three-quarters of a million Americans who are homeless. We need effective policies, too.”

With widespread concerns about voter intimidation in this high-stakes election, Vote for Homes! volunteers have been carefully trained in voting rights. Legal teams and organizations such as the League of Women Voters and the Committee of Seventy have also provided helpful resources to Vote for Homes! to ensure that people who are often politically marginalized can exercise their rights in this election.

According to S. Mary Scullion, Executive Director of Project H.O.M.E., voting is important because it decides the issues that affect real lives. "We know that people who vote get services. People who vote get attention from political actors. As part of a national network of advocates, Project H.O.M.E. and the Vote for Homes! Coalition are proving that people who are homeless and living on low incomes DO vote and should have their voices heard. We are working to ensure that the issues of affordable housing, jobs at livable wages and adequate human and social services are part of the discourse in this election."

“It is critical that the voices of the re-entry community are heard,” said Malissa Gamble, founder and CEO of The Time is Now to Make a Change. “I am partnering with Vote for Homes! because previously incarcerated people will be voting on November 4 because their lives and their families’ lives depend on it. We will use that right to vote for better jobs and decent homes.” Persons with felony convictions are allowed to vote as soon as they have been released from prison. The five-year waiting ban no longer exists.

Since early this year, Vote for Homes! has working to democratically empower low-income Philadelphians, including those who are homeless, disabled, or ex-offenders, to get involved in this year’s national election. Coalition members, including numerous low-income and formerly homeless persons, have worked to educate potential voters about the benefits of voting, to combat voter apathy, and to mobilize voters on Election Day. Earlier this year, Vote for Homes! held a rally at the National Constitution Center on the eve of the Pennsylvania primary, calling on the presidential candidates to address issues of homelessness and poverty. The coalition also held two gatherings of homeless and low-income persons and allies to watch the presidential debates. A video of a September 22 rally can be viewed at www.voteforhomes.org.

Vote for Homes! has helped to register and mobilize voters among the homeless and advocacy communities and helped to promote issues important to these constituencies through the last several election cycles. Since 1999, the Vote for Homes! coalition has registered over 13,000 voters who are homeless, low-income, and/or ex-offenders (see www.voteforhomes.org).

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