RGPR seeks to organize and empower Greater Rochester's historically-marginalized, houseless, and at-risk residents to survive and live with dignity by engaging the community and pressuring local government to decriminalize and destigmatize houselessness, as well as meet basic human needs of ALL residents.
The City of Rochester and Monroe County have a long history of brutal encampment sweeps, displacing our Unhoused Neighbors and wreaking havoc on their lives. This results in the unauthorized taking of property, to trauma being inflicted on our Neighbors, isolation, displacement, shame, stigma, ALL of which increase the likelihood of chaotic drug use and overdose death.
The Supreme Court’s Grants Pass decision clears the way for even more sweeps!
Opioid settlement funds should save lives, not fund surveillance and containment
ROCHESTER, NY — September 9, 2026 — Rochester Grants Pass Resistance is demanding that the City of Rochester reconsider its new Peace Village model, which has abandoned the low-barrier principles the community was originally designed to provide. What was supposed to offer unhoused people safety and autonomy is now a gated, highly regulated facility with 24/7 security, armed guards, no visitors, no walk-ins, restrictions on movement, and zero-tolerance policies.
That is not low-barrier housing. It is containment.
We are especially concerned that the City is using more than $1 million in opioid settlement funds toward this project. Those funds are intended to address the opioid crisis through measures including prevention, treatment, recovery, harm reduction, and services for people affected by opioid use.
Instead, Rochester is putting opioid dollars toward a program that prohibits active drug use and relies heavily on security and policing.
This follows a troubling pattern. The City has previously used opioid settlement funds for library security, raising serious questions about whether Rochester is treating these dollars as a general public-safety fund rather than using them for their intended purpose: addressing the opioid crisis.
Opioid settlement money should be keeping people alive, not funding armed security.
We are equally concerned that the City has turned to law enforcement to help define “safety” at Peace Village, including the Rochester Police Department's Homeless Outreach Team and a housing consultant whose background includes 21 years as a Rochester police officer.
Where are the people with lived experience of chronic homelessness?
The people this program is supposedly designed for should have meaningful power over its rules, security, access, and structure. Instead, the City appears to be designing a highly controlled environment and expecting the people failed by the shelter system to accept it.
If someone would rather sleep outside during a Rochester winter than enter a traditional shelter because of system barriers, why would they choose a gated facility with armed guards, no guests, and even more rules?
Peace Village was supposed to give people safety without taking away their autonomy.
Rochester should not spend millions building another system to control people experiencing homelessness.
Give people housing. Give them rights. Give them autonomy. And use opioid settlement money to save lives.
If you are seeking shelter, or would like to see an interactive example of shelter availability, please use our Find a Shelter Tool. You will also find an Infographic on this page, highlighting the many barriers to shelter our Neighbors experience.
To read more about the Grants Pass decision, as well as Rochester's history of unhoused encampment sweeps, please check our education portal.
The Grants Pass decision gives local governments a greater ability to enact and enforce criminal penalties for acts like public camping or sleeping — even in localities where limited local shelter space contributes to these acts.
This means that our Unhoused Neighbors can be arrested and fined for sleeping outside, even when they have nowhere else to go.
It is very common for our Unhoused Neighbors in Rochester to have nowhere to go. Shelters are often full, or just outright inaccessible for many of our Neighbors.
The Grants Pass decision emboldens and encourages overreach by government and enforcement agencies. For instance, since the Grants Pass decision, Sweeps are not only taking place on public property but (via citations) are planned for private property as well. The City of Rochester has claimed it has “anti-camping laws” that allow for this.
We have started collecting news articles revolving around our work. Please check those links out on this page.
We are a coalition of local activist organizations and individuals working to end sweeps in Rochester, NY and beyond. If you need to contact us, please email us at rochestergrantspassresistance@gmail.com. You can also find us on Instagram @rocgpr!