On Saturday, October 24th, during a permaculture action day event, members of Denver Homeless Out Loud and allies built and installed five tiny houses at Sustainability Park, a piece of land at 24th and Arapahoe in Denver that was owned by Denver Housing Authority (DHA). In doing so, the group proclaimed the birth of Resurrection Village, a community which houseless people would construct, inhabit and run themselves. At about 11pm that same night, about 70 Denver Police Department officers, aided by a SWAT team and a police helicopter, tried to kill the people’s dreams by arresting ten members of the group and destroying or carting away their precious houses.
But in their press release the next morning, the Resurrection Village group proudly announced that “We will not give up! We will keep fighting to defend the people’s right to housing. For the sake of the future residents of Resurrection Village and those who were arrested, we must all stand together now!”
Why the DHA site?
In a statement that accompanied the announcement of the Village’s birth, the group explained why it chose that location on which to establish the tiny house community. In the 1950s, they said, DHA constructed affordable housing on this land for hundreds of residents. In 1999, after the condition of the housing projects had declined due to years of budget cuts, they were leveled through a Federal HOPE VI program aimed at turning distressed public housing into mixed income developments--but which in fact resulted in the forced displacement of tens of thousands of families and the loss of large amounts of guaranteed low-income housing nationwide.
Then in 2009, after years of lying unused, the land was turned into a park within which the Denver Urban Farmers Collaborative conducted experiments in urban farming and sustainable building practices. During this time, DHA published reports and communications regarding their plans to develop affordable housing on the land in the future.
However, this year DHA revealed its plan to sell Sustainability Park, as well as the adjoining city block, to Treehouse Development and Westfield Co, for development into for-sale housing costing between the upper $200,000s and $700,000--hardly “affordable” for low-income folks. DHA claims that this contract will create revenue for future affordable housing developments.
The developers also say they have met their quota of affordable housing because, as required by Denver’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, the development will make 10% of units “affordable,” which in this case means that there will be 22 units for individuals making between $22,400 and $44,800 a year and able to buy a home.
Not even these token 22 units would be affordable for the hundreds of low income people who were kicked out of their homes on this land 10 and 20 years ago, not to mention for the thousands of houseless people who are in shelters, on the streets and crowded in other people’s houses, says DHOL. Meanwhile, DHA has rejected their proposals to create a tiny home pilot project somewhere on the public land that DHA stewards.
Public land for the public
“We are weary of trying to fit into a broken and dehumanizing system in order to find shelter and safety,” the group stated in its press release. “Winter is coming, and we can’t wait any longer for the bureaucrats and politicians to take action. Today we are reclaiming our public lands and our right to survive in a place we can call home.....Urban farmers and low-income people should not be displaced for the sake of economic development right in the midst of Denver’s worst housing crisis ever. So, with a lack of other options, we are taking public land back for the public.”
Such statements are reminiscent of those made during the establishment of Resurrection City, the encampment set up by Martin Luther King Jr and associates on the Washington Mall in 1968 as part of the Poor People’s Campaign--and for which Resurrection Village was named. To paraphrase their predecessors, the Village’s founders insist they are prepared to sit down if necessary in the middle of the street and say, “We are poor; we don’t have anywhere to live; you have made us this way...and we’ve come to stay until you do something about it.”
Providing a safe, warm place
Meanwhile, the Villagers maintain a continual presence at the site. During the first snow night on November 10th they set up a dozen tents, served hot soup, and helped some 30 houseless people stay safe, warm and dry through the night. These activities had to be conducted on a narrow strip of grass outside the fence which the police had erected earlier in the day to keep the Villagers away from the large oak tree which had become the symbol of their struggle--and under which they had set up a “Dia de Las Meurtes” shrine--confiscated a few days earlier by unknown persons --to honor their departed loved ones.
Perhaps because of the publicity the group had earned--as well as due to the bad weather--the police did not bother those who sheltered there that night. Not so lucky were houseless folks who tried to sleep at a street-side encampment nearby, whom police had prohibited from covering themselves despite the wind, snow and cold. Several of them, including an elderly man who could barely walk, took refuge with the Villagers.
“I heard there were tents and other people, and I knew it would be frickin’ cold on the 16th Street Mall, where I usually sleep, so my buddy and I joined them and it was awesome! The tent kept us warm, and the food was great!” said Scott, who was a guest at the Village that night. His sentiments were echoed by Cisco, who said, “This (village) is a place to stay warm…it restores your faith in humanity…Everybody should have a place to go, homeless or not…without having to worry if we’re gonna go to jail in the morning, or get a ticket for doin’ it.”
On December 3rd, following a press conference at the site, Villagers were told that their negotiations with the property owner--brokered in part by City Councilman Albus Brooks--had resulted in the owner allowing them to stay on site for another two and a half weeks. But the promise was broken that very night as police came and forced the Villagers to leave._
Like unsheltered houseless folks all over Denver, Villagers must sleep with one eye open, never knowing when cops will show up, tell them they're violating the urban camping ban, and make them "move along" (to where?). When police force them away, no matter how cold and snowy the weather, these nomads must pick up and find another place to seek rest, only to return to their beloved spot in front of the oak tree a few days later.
Meanwhile the Villagers continue to meet with city officials and others in their quest for realizing their mission of creating a safe, sustainable, and inexpensively constructed community built and run by and for houseless people.
But in their press release the next morning, the Resurrection Village group proudly announced that “We will not give up! We will keep fighting to defend the people’s right to housing. For the sake of the future residents of Resurrection Village and those who were arrested, we must all stand together now!”
Why the DHA site?
In a statement that accompanied the announcement of the Village’s birth, the group explained why it chose that location on which to establish the tiny house community. In the 1950s, they said, DHA constructed affordable housing on this land for hundreds of residents. In 1999, after the condition of the housing projects had declined due to years of budget cuts, they were leveled through a Federal HOPE VI program aimed at turning distressed public housing into mixed income developments--but which in fact resulted in the forced displacement of tens of thousands of families and the loss of large amounts of guaranteed low-income housing nationwide.
Then in 2009, after years of lying unused, the land was turned into a park within which the Denver Urban Farmers Collaborative conducted experiments in urban farming and sustainable building practices. During this time, DHA published reports and communications regarding their plans to develop affordable housing on the land in the future.
However, this year DHA revealed its plan to sell Sustainability Park, as well as the adjoining city block, to Treehouse Development and Westfield Co, for development into for-sale housing costing between the upper $200,000s and $700,000--hardly “affordable” for low-income folks. DHA claims that this contract will create revenue for future affordable housing developments.
The developers also say they have met their quota of affordable housing because, as required by Denver’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, the development will make 10% of units “affordable,” which in this case means that there will be 22 units for individuals making between $22,400 and $44,800 a year and able to buy a home.
Not even these token 22 units would be affordable for the hundreds of low income people who were kicked out of their homes on this land 10 and 20 years ago, not to mention for the thousands of houseless people who are in shelters, on the streets and crowded in other people’s houses, says DHOL. Meanwhile, DHA has rejected their proposals to create a tiny home pilot project somewhere on the public land that DHA stewards.
Public land for the public
“We are weary of trying to fit into a broken and dehumanizing system in order to find shelter and safety,” the group stated in its press release. “Winter is coming, and we can’t wait any longer for the bureaucrats and politicians to take action. Today we are reclaiming our public lands and our right to survive in a place we can call home.....Urban farmers and low-income people should not be displaced for the sake of economic development right in the midst of Denver’s worst housing crisis ever. So, with a lack of other options, we are taking public land back for the public.”
Such statements are reminiscent of those made during the establishment of Resurrection City, the encampment set up by Martin Luther King Jr and associates on the Washington Mall in 1968 as part of the Poor People’s Campaign--and for which Resurrection Village was named. To paraphrase their predecessors, the Village’s founders insist they are prepared to sit down if necessary in the middle of the street and say, “We are poor; we don’t have anywhere to live; you have made us this way...and we’ve come to stay until you do something about it.”
Providing a safe, warm place
Meanwhile, the Villagers maintain a continual presence at the site. During the first snow night on November 10th they set up a dozen tents, served hot soup, and helped some 30 houseless people stay safe, warm and dry through the night. These activities had to be conducted on a narrow strip of grass outside the fence which the police had erected earlier in the day to keep the Villagers away from the large oak tree which had become the symbol of their struggle--and under which they had set up a “Dia de Las Meurtes” shrine--confiscated a few days earlier by unknown persons --to honor their departed loved ones.
Perhaps because of the publicity the group had earned--as well as due to the bad weather--the police did not bother those who sheltered there that night. Not so lucky were houseless folks who tried to sleep at a street-side encampment nearby, whom police had prohibited from covering themselves despite the wind, snow and cold. Several of them, including an elderly man who could barely walk, took refuge with the Villagers.
“I heard there were tents and other people, and I knew it would be frickin’ cold on the 16th Street Mall, where I usually sleep, so my buddy and I joined them and it was awesome! The tent kept us warm, and the food was great!” said Scott, who was a guest at the Village that night. His sentiments were echoed by Cisco, who said, “This (village) is a place to stay warm…it restores your faith in humanity…Everybody should have a place to go, homeless or not…without having to worry if we’re gonna go to jail in the morning, or get a ticket for doin’ it.”
On December 3rd, following a press conference at the site, Villagers were told that their negotiations with the property owner--brokered in part by City Councilman Albus Brooks--had resulted in the owner allowing them to stay on site for another two and a half weeks. But the promise was broken that very night as police came and forced the Villagers to leave._
Like unsheltered houseless folks all over Denver, Villagers must sleep with one eye open, never knowing when cops will show up, tell them they're violating the urban camping ban, and make them "move along" (to where?). When police force them away, no matter how cold and snowy the weather, these nomads must pick up and find another place to seek rest, only to return to their beloved spot in front of the oak tree a few days later.
Meanwhile the Villagers continue to meet with city officials and others in their quest for realizing their mission of creating a safe, sustainable, and inexpensively constructed community built and run by and for houseless people.
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