Hamilton Bike Share and the Everyone Rides Initiative stand in solidarity with local Black leaders and organizations in their condemnation of the troubling violence toward Black and racialized housing advocates. We support their call to drop the charges laid against the six youth, the call for a judicial inquiry into the Hamilton Police Department actions on November 24th and 26th, and for the City of Hamilton to stop encampment evictions that adversely affect Black, Indigenous, and low-income residents. The City of Hamilton needs to reinstate a housing first approach that minimizes harm, and fulfill their institutional responsibility to provide safe, accessible and affordable housing for all Hamiltonians. We see these calls to action as a starting point to create justice and heal the wounds inflicted on the community.
As a not-for-profit organization we are driven by our mission, vision, and values, and part of our values statement is that “we believe in the importance of centering our work on lived experience and providing needs-based programming. We recognize how intersecting types of oppression and inequitable systems create barriers and push communities to the margins.” In that spirit, we support our partners and members of the community who are advocating for the dismantling of inequitable systems and working toward a solution that enables our neighbours to be safe and to be housed. It is essential that these housing inequities are addressed immediately, especially as we head into colder months. We are grateful to the organizations like the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, Hamilton Encampment Support Network, Disability Justice Network of Ontario, and others who are doing this important work and advocacy.
Additional resources:
Calls from the Community
- Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion responds to Hamilton Police Extreme Use of Force on Black Youth and Housing Advocates: statement and petition
- Letter of Solidarity from McMaster University’s Office of Community Engagement
- Encampments and Institutional Responsibility: a Letter to Ward 1 Residents from Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson
- Statement on JC Beemer Encampment Enforcement from Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann
Learning More and Working Toward Solutions
- Anti-Racism Resource List from the Everyone Rides Initiative
- What Our Neighbours are Doing: No Barrier Alternative to Shelters Project in Waterloo Region
- Local Accessibility Policy Asks from the DJNO and HESN
- Cohousing Community Design Models in Other Cities and Towns
- The Impact of Safe Housing on Survivors of Domestic Violence