Rochester Homelessness Awareness Project

Rochester, NY - At 4:00pm Thursday, May 1st local social workers and Brockport students will voice a call to action to raise awareness about issues affecting Rochester’s homeless. A march around downtown Rochester will start the event followed by a speak-out at St. Mary’s Dugan Center, 15 St. Mary’s Place at 5:00pm.

The speak-out facilitated by Mike Boucher will follow the march where Rochester residents directly affected by homelessness will tell their stories.  The discussion will address housing problems and solutions, what poor people are doing around the country to fight back against their invisibility, and how students can join the movement to end homelessness.

“We do this so the guys in the garage don’t become invisible, so they don’t become forgotten like Reggie” says local social worker and anti-poverty activist Melissa Sydor-Kauffman. “Everyone matters”. Reggie Grimes was a Rochesterian, a father, and a man who worked for Kodak for over half of his adult life.  He was also a chronically homeless man who died in a house fire on Hudson Avenue last Wednesday afternoon. Like many homeless individuals, Reggie was a man who was missing his human rights.  This event hopes to regain the humanity of homeless individuals though awareness and advocacy.

The city of Rochester has a 31.1% poverty rate, is the fifth poorest city in the nation and among the top 75 largest metropolitan areas.  It is ranked third for the highest concentration of extremely poor neighborhoods among cities in the top 100 metro areas. The Rochester area has more than 600 emergency beds for people who are homeless or in transition. On any given night, 98% of these beds are full.

With the pending eviction of the homeless from the Civic Center parking garage, many individuals will be displaced from this source of shelter. March and listen as organizers demand that the local government views housing as an economic human right and provides adequate shelter and support for the homeless.