The Capitalist Attitude Towards the Homelessness Crisis

by Patrick Russell The unfairness and absurdity of modern homelessness can be summed up in a single number: there are 28 vacant homes for every homeless person. Although this fact diminishes the complexity of homelessness, its simple cruelty reveals America’s greatest contradiction: a nation of abundance and a nation of destitution. Society holds in its hands the ability to provide for all, yet chooses not to. The inherent inequality of the economy only deepens its inhumanity as prices rise, real wages stagnate, and social services are cut. Homelessness is growing at record rates, mostly among the youth and elderly, and … Continue reading The Capitalist Attitude Towards the Homelessness Crisis

Porchlight Tenants Crash Charity Event to Warn Donors About Dangerous Living Conditions

Madison Tenant Power Madison, WI – On Monday, Porchlight tenants and their housing allies crashed a charity event for Porchlight, Inc., the nonprofit that runs Porchlight Men’s Shelter, in order to warn potential donors about dangerous living conditions. One person wore a cockroach costume. Madison Wisconsin Homeless Union and Madison Tenant Power are calling attention to unsanitary and unsafe conditions in Porchlight properties in Madison, including: apartments full of cockroaches, bedbugs, and other pests; lack of bedding (tenants sleeping on the floor); and units that are not properly air conditioned or heated. Porchlight staff hang up the phone on housing advocates … Continue reading Porchlight Tenants Crash Charity Event to Warn Donors About Dangerous Living Conditions

An Open Letter: Nationwide Developer Core Spaces Is Bad for Tenants and the Future of Affordable Housing in Madison

By Madison Tenant Power This spring, Core Spaces (a Chicago-based developer with two “luxury” student housing developments in Madison and controversial proposals for two more) made national news for mass evicting thousands of tenants in Santa Barbara. These “renovictions” happened with little notice, leaving residents scrambling to find housing in their communities. In response, tenants in California founded the nationwide Core Spaces Tenant Association to fight back against the threat of mass displacement. Even as these tenants have worked to secure new legal protections against renovictions, Core Spaces has attempted to mislead tenants about the ordinances that apply to their … Continue reading An Open Letter: Nationwide Developer Core Spaces Is Bad for Tenants and the Future of Affordable Housing in Madison