Homeless people and their supporters converged on the Capitol for a march Saturday, aiming their efforts at achieving affordable housing and restoration of more than $24 billion in federal housing funds.
Organizers of the "Housing Now!" march hoped that by the end of the day the official count of those participating would reach 100,000.The march to the Capitol involves an unusual coalition of homeless people, entertainers, union representatives and religious organizations, said Mary Ellen Hombs, acting director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. The march is supported formally by some 200 organizations nationwide.
"The coalition that's been constructed is unprecedented - labor, working people, homelessness groups and others," Hombs said. "It really constructs a message that the housing problem is one that's everywhere."
The march culminates a week of activities highlighted by lobbying on Capitol Hill.
Federal housing funds have been cut by more than 75 percent since 1980, from $32 billion to $7.5 billion. Homeless advocates estimate 3 million Americans are without housing. A congressional study predicts another 19 million may face the prospect of homelessness nationwide during the next 15 years.
"Having millions of people living on our streets is an abomination. It's an embarrassment. It's a sin," declared Mitch Snyder, who runs the District of Columbia's largest homeless shelter through his Community for Creative Non-Violence.
Organizers also planned a breakfast early Saturday at Snyder's shelter in honor of Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, who worked extensively on hunger issues until he died in a plane crash Aug. 7 during a humanitarian trip to famine-ravaged Ethiopia.