#moms4housing fights for housing access in oakland

There’s a housing crisis and too little is being done to address it. In Oakland, California, there are four times as many empty homes as there are people without homes and sadly, many of those living without stable housing are children.

Should houses be sitting empty while families and children are on the street? #Moms4Housing say no. The group, made up of women who are experiencing homelessness, took over a vacant home on Magnolia Street in Oakland and have been fighting since November to stay there.

They told reporters that they’re working to change the laws that keep people from stable housing, not just in Oakland, but all over the world. They want to create a housing registry, outlaw short term rentals, and they say they should be able to use eminent domain to take housing back from corporate forces.

“We’re not leaving…we’re bringing awareness to this national and global housing crisis and we don’t intend to stop,” Dominique Walker, the head of Moms4Hosuing, told reporters.

The house on Magnolia Street has sat vacant for two years. The owner, Wedgewood Properties, a Southern California investment firm, is planning to flip the home.

Wedgewood Properties say they offered to help the women move into a shelter, but the moms rejected that offer saying that Wedgewood only ever made the offer through the media, not to them directly.

The women lost a key court case on Friday but remained unshaken. “This is the beginning of a movement. The system is designed to protect the wealthy. It wasn’t designed for us. We never thought we would win in an unjust system,” the explained outside of the courthouse.

Under the cover of darkness early Tuesday morning while the women slept, armed police broke into the home and removed the women. Six people were arrested this morning, including two mothers.

Alameda county sheriff pigs evicted Black mothers and children with tanks and AR15s in west Oakland this morning. This is what terrorism looks like.

pic.twitter.com/wmm8l76tYq

— Brotha B (@BlakeDontCrack) January 14, 2020

On Twitter, Moms4Housing asked supporters to mobilize at the Santa Rita Jail to welcome those arrested when they are released.

They’ve also set up a GoFundMe to help with legal costs.

For more ways to help, check out Moms4Housing.org