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‘We can all fight together in this struggle!’ says homeless mother

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Speakers and members of The Village, an independent women and children’s tent community, gather for a MLK Jr. Day celebration and speak-out at Oscar Grant Plaza in downtown Oakland, CA.
PHOTO/SARAH MENEFEE

 
These powerful words on women and homelessness were sounded from the stage at this year’s Women’s March in San Francisco:
Sam Lew, Coalition of Homelessness:
As the rain pours, I think about the homeless pregnant woman who sleeps outside our office. How in the city if you are pregnant and homeless you still can’t get into the family shelter till your third trimester. No matter how badly we want to get her into housing, it will be years. She holds her belly and waits, I think about how she will still be sleeping on our doorstep tonight. When I am asked ‘how can we end homelessness?’, I say ‘ask homeless women.’ Homelessness is a women’s issue!
Tracey Mixon, a Peer Organizer with the Coalition of Homelessness:
“I’m a San Francisco native, right up by the Fillmore, and I’m pregnant, homeless in the city. Real talk: I never thought I’d be homeless with my daughter, let alone work on Pro C [which taxes large corporations for homeless services], but I helped on that and that is empowering. I did this with my daughter, passing out flyers, ‘cause I wanted her to see what true activism is. Around this city it’s hard when there are no real resources offered for homeless mothers and families. There’s no shame in being homeless, the only shame is in the city not doing enough for people. This is my city, I was born and raised here, and I don’t plan on leaving here. I am in this struggle every single day, I’m trying to make it better for not just my daughter but for everybody in this city. We can all fight together in this struggle!”

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