Homeless, low-income, ex-offenders review candidates’ records, proposals for reform

[PHILADELPHIA] What will the next Governor and Senator do about the fact that Philadelphia’s poverty rate is the most of any large city and street homelessness is on the rise? While these issues have barely been raised in the election campaign, they are the focus of a Voters Guide – including responses by Senate candidates Rick Santorum (R) and Bob Casey (D) and gubernatorial candidates Ed Rendell (D) and Lynn Swann (R). The Guide will be released Thursday, October 19, at 10:30 am at Project H.O.M.E. (1515 Fairmount Avenue) by the Election 2006: Vote for Homes! coalition.

The release of our Voter’s Guide is heralded by a replica of the LOVE statue made to read “VOTE” and followed by educational activities at nearby shelters including Ridge Avenue Center. The Coalition has registered over 1,000 people this election season and Thursday’s 10:30 am event will kick off the voter mobilization phase of Vote for Homes!

Speakers include:

• Sister Mary Scullion of Project H.O.M.E. will open with an invocation to urge the candidates to speak to voters in Pennsylvania who are homeless and unemployed. "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 ensuring that the issues of affordable housing, jobs at livable wages, and adequate human and social services are part of the discourse in this election."
• Wayne Jacobs of X-Offenders for Community Empowerment will educate the crowd on new Pennsylvania voting laws regarding people who have past felony convictions. Philadelphians who have felonies on their records have fought hard to have the right to vote after they’ve done their time. We will not be disenfranchised. And we will use that right – we will vote for better jobs and decent homes. When we know the rules, no one can turn us away at the polls. Vote for Homes! is going to parole offices and jails to speak to people awaiting trial, because they can vote too. It’s time for us to rejoin society as active members and to vote for better futures!
• Hyacinth King, formerly homeless volunteer with the Vote for Homes! Coalition. She will share her story about why politics matter to her and talk about her efforts to register, educate, and mobilize other low income people.

The Voters Guide features responses by Senate candidates Rick Santorum (R) and Bob Casey (D) and gubernatorial candidates Ed Rendell (D) and Lynn Swann (R) on a range of questions covering issues like affordable housing, homelessness, health care, wages, and ex-offender issues. The 70 organizations and over 100 volunteers who make up Vote for Homes! will distribute 25,000 copies of the nonpartisan Voters Guide, primarily to low-income and homeless voters, ex-offenders, and persons who are incarcerated. For more information on Vote For Homes! contact Jennine Miller at 215-232-7272, ext. 3042 or jenninemillier@projecthome.org or visit our website at www.projecthome.org/vote

There are approximately 900,000 potential voters in Philadelphia. The Vote for Homes! coalition has a current target list of 120 shelters, soup kitchens, health centers, jails, and probation offices in the City of Philadelphia that have not been educated, addressed, or included in the electoral process.

This collective voice will be key to moving the candidates to speak to the approximately 25,000 homeless, the more than 150,000 uninsured, and the one in 12 unemployed Philadelphians who will be voting this November.