Duluth City Council expected to pass Homeless Bill of Rights
The Duluth City Council is expected to pass a resolution at its meeting tonight that would pave the way for the city to pass a Homeless Bill of Rights that would protect homeless people from discrimination.
If approved, the resolution would direct the Duluth Human Rights Commission to draft an ordinance that would prohibit discrimination against the homeless in education, employment, public services, public accommodations and other areas. City Council member Sharla Gardner hopes will pass by the end of winter.
"I want to draw public attention to the fact that homeless people are not treated in the same way by the public, and by authorities, as are people with jobs and houses," Gardner said.
Rhode Island, Connecticut, Illinois and have recently adopted Homeless Bills of Rights, as has Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth. Duluth would be the first city nationwide to follow suit.
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Homelessness has been on the rise since 2007 and is at an all time high in Duluth, where there's a severe shortage of low income rental housing. As many as 200 people slept outside this past summer.
Advocates say homeless people are often told by authorities to "move along" if they're sitting on a bench or standing on the sidewalk, something that does not happen to people who aren't identified as being poor and homeless.
"If you or I are sitting on a bench, nobody tells us to move on," Gardner said. "But [the homeless] are told to move on, and that is a violation of their rights if they are not committing a crime."
Statewide, according to a report published by the Wilder Foundation last year, 41 percent of homeless adults are on waiting lists for subsidized housing, with an average wait time of one year.
Advocates in Duluth want the city to recognize homeless people as "full members of the community," even if they don't have a place to live, said Joel Kilgour, a member of the homeless advocacy and support group Loaves and Fishes.
They also want homeless advocates to be included as members of the city's Human Rights Commission.
"We want to make sure that poor people are at the table in City Hall when it comes to policy decisions," Kilgour said. "Homeless people and people experiencing poverty feel like they don't have a voice in decisions that affect their lives, and they often feel like they're criminalized just for being poor."