Wednesday, August 6th
At Franklin School Shelter
925 13th St., NW
(At 13th and K Sts, NW)
At 7:30 PM
In Dining Hall

Last week some residents had been told not to return to Franklin on August 1st. It was determined that this would’ve caused some of them to be put out with nowhere to go. The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless called a meeting at franklin on Tuesday, July 29th. They gathered affidavits from some of those who would’ve been adversely affected by this decision and filed them with the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). When DHS heard about this, they reversed their decision to put the men out.

Now DHS has come up with yet another deft plan whereby to remove the men from Franklin. About a month ago the detail workers’ dorm was emptied, supposedly so that it could be converted into a handicapped dorm. It has been empty ever since. Yesterday I noticed that the beds have been disassembled in one of the 2nd floor dorms. It held about 20 beds. I’ve also been told that several beds at a time are being removed from other dorms, as opposed to removing all of them at once.

This latest move seems to be in retaliation for last week’s decision to file suit against DHS. It is also a replacement for them not being able to downsize by using the “out” list. They were probably grossly embarrassed. Clarence Carter and the mayor are “dogged and determined” to close Franklin come hell or high water and in spite of the will of the people. However, we can’t allow them to do this irresponsibly. They must be certain that we have enough shelter capacity elsewhere first. Recent reports suggest that we don’t.

Come speak your mind at this meeting. Make yourself heard. Don’t allow yourself or the homeless community to be ignored or by DC Government or the mayor. Don’t allow them to run roughshod over your rights.