Vote for Homes! Coalition Conducts Mass Mobilization of Homeless Voters at Philly Shelters and Programs

Teams of volunteers will reach out to shelter residents, offering rides, moral support, and other assistance. By registering in historic-high numbers, shelter residents have demonstrated that they will vote in this election and bring their issues – housing, employment, and social services – to the polls with them. Thousands of homeless and low-income
voters have been registered and will get out to vote.

Philadelphia, PA – One hundred and twenty trained volunteers will fan out from Project H.O.M.E. across the City to reach registered voters in 250 shelters, soup kitchens, service agencies, health centers, and probation offices. Amid real concerns about voter intimidation and election fraud, teams of volunteers will tackle these sites throughout Election Day.

Darnell Chiles, 41, will vote for the first time tomorrow. Formerly homeless, he currently works two jobs, one as a janitor and one at Suburban Station. He says he is voting to ask candidates to speak to the issues that matter to him. “The politicians always come around when they need your vote, but when you need them, they always have excuses why they cannot. This year, we’re all going to vote and they’re going to have to listen! Let’s tell them what we need. Let’s tell them we need housing, we need jobs, and we need
services!”

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 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
addressed people with justice system records – saying, “Philadelphians who have felonies on their records fought hard to have the right to vote. And we will use that right to vote for better jobs and decent homes and we’ll educate each other on voter rights. When we know the rules, no one can turn us away at the polls. It’s time for us to rejoin society as active members and to vote for better futures!”

Through the efforts of Vote for Homes! and Project H.O.M.E., 200 volunteers have participated in six specialized trainings, giving them the tools register voters, educate potential voters about the benefits of voting, combat voter apathy, and mobilize voters on Election Day. There are approximately 900,000 potential voters in Philadelphia. Vote for Homes! registered 1,100 voters during this election cycle,
and 8,500 voters since the start of this campaign in 1999. This collective voice – the approximately 25,000 homeless, 21,700 uninsured, and one in 12 unemployed Philadelphians, combined with similar constituencies across the country – could very well decide who will become our next President.