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!
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.
No, far from it! Every day, 748 of our Neighbors experience homelessness in Monroe County, and that number is growing. Even if there were enough free shelter beds for everyone, which there is not, our Neighbors face any number of barriers to shelter entry. Some examples are
You can use our interactive Find a Shelter Tool to see for yourself just how difficult it can be to find a shelter. There is also an Infographic available on that page if you'd prefer to look at options that way. Even if someone can find a shelter that meets their needs, there is a very good chance the shelter will be full.
This is exactly the question you should be asking yourself, and the exact problem that the Grants Pass decision exacerbates! The Grants Pass decision has effectively made it illegal to be Unhoused, allowing for fines and arrest of people sleeping on public property.
Unhoused communities form as a last resort for our Neighbors who cannot access shelter elsewhere, and now the City of Rochester and Monroe County have been cleared by the Supreme Court to continue their violent sweeps, further displacing and alienating our most vulnerable population.
Encampments are the evidence of homelessness in our community. Destroying the evidence does not solve the crime of homelessness caused by policy failures and lack of municipal investments in housing!
Here are our demands:
The fight to keep our Unhoused Neighbors safe, and guarantee everyone a safe place to live is long and on-going. Please join the fight!