The Tent City begins Feb 26th and will need YOUR support and solidarity to keep going! We are relying on the determination of the community and the strength of our supporters to make this happen!
The affordable housing component of the Athletes Village has been reduced from a planned 66% to less than 10%. The units promised to the poor and working poor remain empty and unsellable, and the city refuses to allow anyone but the richest to call them home. On February 17th, Bob Rennie and the City shamelessly relaunched their condo sales campaign at the Olympic Village for the third time, attempting yet again to sell-out promised social housing units.
The Tent City is a direct action and community effort to reclaim housing at the Olympic Village. At the same time, the City has been actively gentrifying the Downtown Eastside. The 10 Sites Campaign will fight to secure land for much need social housing in the neighborhood.
We Demand:
1. Resident controlled 100% social housing for all unsold units at the Olympic Village.
2. The purchase of a minimum 10 sites per year in the DTES, and the creation of resident controlled 100% social housing on all those sites.
3. End the criminalization of poverty by abolishing Project Civil City, overturning anti-street vending by-laws and other anti-poor discriminatory legislation, and by raising welfare rates.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
**Endorsements**
Join a growing number of groups who are endorsing the Feb 26th Olympic Village Tent City and our demands. Please let us know If your organization/community group endorses the Tent City and these demands. Endorsements can be emailed to: tentcity2011@gmail.com
**We Need Stuff**
Please respond to us at tentcity2011@gmail.com, or call us at 604-440-9938 if you are able to donate any of the listed items and would like to arrange pick up/drop off:
- First Aid Kits
- Tarps
- Ropes
- Camping tents
- Large Outdoor Tents
- Blankets, foams, and sleeping bags (for homeless residents)
- Water
- Non perishable food items (granola bars, trail mixes, peanut butter, rice, beans, couscous etc)
- Walkie Talkies
- Bus tickets
- Cigarettes, rolling paper
- Firewood
- 2X4 Wooden Pallets
- Extension cords
- Flashlights
- Portable Generator Rentals
**Supporter Shifts/ Tenting Out**
*Site Guardians: If you or your organization, group of friends, or community network can commit to a six hour Site Guardians shift please let us know. It is critical that we ensure a high presence in the first 24 hours of the tent city as well as night time when we may be most vulnerable to law enforcement activity. A basic training session will be given for this. email: tentcitysignup@gmail.com or call:(778)558-9121.
*Medics: If you or your friends have basic medic training, or are keen to learn and help in this capacity, please contact tentcitysignup@gmail.com or call (604)558-9121
*Community Hosts: Host a workshop, community art project, performances, storytelling or poetry evening to facilitate the building of connection and community. Contact eviebelle@hotmail.com or call (604)762-5997 to contribute your creativity.
*Food: If your organization or community network can commit to preparing and/or serving a meal for Tent City residents, please let us know! Contact tentcitysignup@hotmail.com, or call (604)558-9121
**Once the Tent City is up and public on Feb. 26th, we encourage you to please stop by.**
Or even better, come out to the launch of the Tent City and join us in "Take Back our Village", a Rally to support the 10 Sites Campaign and the reclamation of housing at the Olympic Village. The rally starts on FEB 26th - NOON in-front of Pantages Theatre (152 E Hastings, corner of Main and Hastings) in the Downtown Eastside, Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territory
Many thanks for your Support!
Organized by: Tent City Council
Endorsed by: Van.Act, Downtown Eastside Neighborhood Council, CUPW, Transformative Communities Project Society, The Mosaic, No.Gent, Social Justice Centre, SFU Teaching Support Staff Union, Workless Party, and more...
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* email: tentcity2011@gmail.com phone:(604)700-2309
facebook: "Olympic Village Tent City, Feb 2011"; rally: ''Take Back OUR Village'
* For info on the massive sell off of social housing at the Olympic Village, and the campaign around it, check out: http://falsecreekpromises.wordpress.com
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