Dear Governor DeWine,
I am writing because I don't know where else to turn.
Perhaps you have heard about the mulit-year fight we have been having with the city of Akron over the right to shelter our homeless citizens.
Here are a couple articles that do a good job of covering the issue at hand:
Why a Private Landowner Is Fighting to Keep the Homeless on His Property - The New York Times
Remember Tent City - Cleveland Magazine
And here is a documentary that was in the Cleveland International Film Festival about our story:
Inside Akron's Tent City - a documentary by PressureLife
I have never said that tents are the final solution to ending homelessness. But what I have said is that there are men, women, children, veterans and senior citizens freezing and unsheltered on the streets of Akron and most major cities of Ohio.
It is cruel and inhumane to allow these people to linger and suffer while there are people who are more than willing to take care of them and shelter them.
We were forced by the city to shut down not only our tent village, but also our day center which had showers, food, clothing, computers and a thriving community of homeless people and supporters.
Additionally, in December of 2018, 277 people sent emails to our mayor asking him to save our tent village using this form:
https://sagerock.wufoo.com/forms/m10jg5qr06djug4/
He did not acknowledge a singe one of those messages.
Then in October of 2019 another 121 citizens asked Mayor Horrigan what his plan was to shelter the homeless this winter using this form:
https://sagerock.wufoo.com/forms/qjg3psz1f9orim/
He did not acknowledge a singe one of those messages.
A very recent Akron Beacon Journal article featured the stress our homeless shelter system is experiencing. The article says that a group of homeless service providers will send a letter to Mayor Horrigan asking him to open up emergency warming centers in our city. We are already in the throws of brutally cold temperatures. We need shelter solutions in Akron immediately.
You can see that article here:
Shelters tackle bed shortage as temperatures drop and chronic homelessness surges in Akron - News - Akron Beacon Journal - Akron, OH
If you aren't aware, I would like to bring to your attention what the Republican Governor of Texas recently did.
He will be creating a temporary homeless campsite on state land in the capital city of Austin. You can read more about it here:
Texas Gov. Abbott opens homeless campsite on state land in fight with Austin | Fox News
We have seen Democratic leaders run our large cities for decades while homelessness, opiate overdoses, shootings and even Hepatitis A plague these large communities.
Mayor Horrigan has done nothing to work with us or any homeless service provider to address our critical need in this area. The only thing he has done is chastise me and our supporters in op-eds like this:
I don't know where else to turn.
Homelessness is increasing as the divide between the rich and poor continues to expand. We have a serious life or death emergency on our hands and our leaders in Akron are doing nothing.
PLEASE help us. We have nowhere else to turn. PLEASE.
At that very least, it would mean a great deal to me, our supporters and the homeless citizens of Akron if you could acknowledge that you received our message. We are alone and seemingly hated by our own city government.
Thank you for listening.
Sincerely,
Sage Lewis
If you'd like to contact the governor of Ohio about this issue you can do so here:
https://governor.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/governor/contact
Paid For By The People for Sage Lewis