HOMES FOR ALL March 13, 2013 Launch

Ruben Santiago Vice President Arise for Social Justice
URGENT!
On March 13th, 2013 Arise for Social Justice and Springfield No One Leaves, working as the Springfield Right to the City Alliance will  be launching a New National Campaign. Homes For All, Defending, Reclaiming and Rebuilding our Communities. www.homesforall.org
 Springfield Massachusetts along with nine other cities across the United States will be holding various actions to bring attention to the crisis that has been paralyzing our country for far to long. HOUSING!  We will attempt to show our elected officials and concerned residents the reality of what our city has become and some ideas of what can be done about it.
If you are concerned about Homelessness, racial disparities, displaced families, shelter regulations, unfit living conditions, gentrification and Foreclosures come and join us on March 13th. Your voice is important. We can make a difference.
 You will be standing with thousands of other concerned folks across the country.
 We will get the attention of The White House, H.U.D, Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, our City and our State. Letting them know that People need stable Homes that they can afford. Letting them know that our neighborhoods are disappearing. The fabric of our families and our diverse cultures are in jeopardy by the fracturing of our communities.
With all of the bickering in Washington over budget cuts and tax increases, we cannot let the urgent cry for housing get diluted and lost in the D.C. Shuffle.
We need you!
Join us.
Details of the day's schedule and locations will be released within the coming week.
For more information on the national actions visit www.homesforall.org
Please feel free to call Arise to volunteer to help with arrangements for March 13th.
The Homes For All campaign, can change the way we address Housing in Springfield. In Massachusetts. In The United States of America, for generations to come.
URGENT!
GET INVOLVED.

Shameful---More Vacant Homes Than Homeless

Article well worth the visit- Please read-
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/more_vacant_homes_than_homeless_in_us_20111231/

Two important vigils to stop foreclosure evictions

From Springfield No One Leaves:

"END ALL NO FAULT EVICTIONS AFTER FORECLOSURE!" 

 

 For six years we've been making this demand across Massachusetts and backing it up by being ready to resist bank attempts to evict families for no reason at all! Last night at our weekly Bank Tenant Association meeting we discussed the possibility of two of our members (the Mendez Family & the Tucker Family) facing evictions as early as August 3rd. Both families have move-out dates scheduled for July 31st. The BTA voted to use civil disobedience if necessary to block the evictions of the Mendez Family and/or Tucker family from their home. 

Both the Mendez Family and Tucker Family are making demands long made by our movement - we are demanding that Aurora Bank & Deutsche Bank, respectively, stop No-Fault Evictions after foreclosure. Instead, we have a simple solution: 

• ACCEPT RENT & MARKET THE PROPERTY OCCUPIED OR...
• SELL BACK AT THE CURRENT MARKET VALUE - THE SAME PRICE ANYONE ELSE WOULD BUY FOR! 

Both the Mendez & Tucker Family's can afford their home after foreclosure, or can afford rent. In both cases they've offered to buy back at current value - and would even agree to share any equity appreciation in future. The Tucker family has secured financing from a non-profit to buy at current value in cash. But in both struggles, Aurora Bank and Deutsche bank are refusing to negotiate, instead continuing the banks practice of evicting families for no reason at all. 

WHY EVICT A FAMILY THAT CAN PAY RENT?

We'll be ready to block these evictions, but we refuse to sit on the sidelines and simply wait for the bank to evict!. We're going on the offensive. 

On MONDAY JULY 30TH & TUESDAY JULY 31ST we will hold back-to-back candlelight vigils to highlight the immorality of Aurora & Deutsche Bank's actions, make our demands clear, and send out a notice that Springfield will not allow for no-fault evictions of our neighbors! We'll be canvassing neighborhoods, reaching out to local elected representatives, building with ally organizations and getting media attention to spotlight the truly evil and unjust actions of the banks. 

MONDAY JULY 30TH - 7:00 PM

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL VS. AURORA BANK

Mendez Family Home - 27 Talmadge Drive, Springfield, MA

TUESDAY JULY 31ST - 7:00 PM (in place of our SBTA meeting)

CANDLELIGHT VIGIL VS. DEUTSCHE BANK 

Tucker Family Home - 53 Palo Alto Road, Springfield, MA

Please save the date - more details to come in the next 2 weeks! 

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/events/247909318645911/ 

Peace and Solidarity, 

Springfield No One Leaves/Nadie Se Mude

TWO opportunities for solidarity this Monday

JUSTICE FOR CHARLES

 

THIS IS THE BIG ONE! Charles Wilhite's next hearing is this Monday, April 9th at 9 am. It is an evidentiary hearing for the 25(b)2 Motion, for which there are four possibilities (below).  For those of you unfamiliar with the case, Charles is currently behind bars for life due to a wrongful conviction of murder in the first degree.  Those of us involved in his campaign for freedom are positive that he is innocent.  Now, the judge is starting to reconsider his position.  Judges RARELY consider 25(b)2 motions.   Here are the possibilities:

1) Judge Velis denies the motion; we go back to square one

2) Velis reduces the sentence 

3) Velis orders a new trial 

4) Velis sets aside the guilty verdict to a non-guilty verdict 

Charles' daughterAs you can see, there is A LOT resting on this hearing. We had 70 people at his last hearing - let's double our presence at this hearing!! Charles' daughter just celebrated her 5th birthday. Let's PACK THE SIDEWALKS AND THE COURTHOUSE on Monday, SPREAD THE WORD FAR AND WIDE, and WRITE LETTERS to the DA to make sure that Charles can be there for his daughter's 6th birthday!!

Following the Justice for Trayvon Walk (which brought out thousands of people), the Justice for Charles campaign held a Community Conversation on Race and Justice in the Springfield Public Library.  We had 40 community members, religious leaders, organizers, and family members join together to discuss their opinions, experiences, and hopes for the future.  We are in an exciting, momentous time in the movement for racial justice here in Springfield, and beyond.  We recognize that this movement is bigger than Charles - and that the more pressure we exert on Monday on behalf of Charles, the more power we will then possess for the next Charles.. and the next Melvin.. and the next Rekia... and the next Trayvon.. 

Please meet us outside the courthouse (50 State Street) at 8:30 am on Monday April 9th.  We will hold signs and rally before going inside to the hearing.   The hearing may last a few hours.  

There should be cars leaving Amherst and Northampton Monday morning for Springfield.  If you would like a ride, please message me on facebook or call me at 617-460-5238 and we'll figure something out.  

With love and solidarity-

Dan Keefe

P.S. feel free to forward this message on to your friends.  

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How often do you hear this - an investor owner of a property is offered a check from an occupant - and the investor TURNS IT DOWN! 

Join us next Monday for a rally where we will deliver a rent check and demand that Richard Blaser and Richard Werman accept Tammy Sullivan's rent and stop evicting her after CHASE bank foreclosed on her! 

UN-RENT STRIKE & Rally W/ The Sullivan Family

Targets: Investor Richard Blaser and Foreclosing Bank: JP Morgan Chase! 

MONDAY APRIL 9TH @ 3:30 PM

16 South Boulevard, West Springfield, MA (MAP)

Outside the Investor's office! - park around the corner on High St. 

Tammy Sullivans Fight Against Chase Bank and Richard Blaser: 

Tammy Sullivan lives with her two daughters in a house they've owned for 14 years and that has been in their family for 31 years! She fell behind on her mortgage after a car accident in February 2011, and tried repeatedly for a modification with Chase bank - submitting the same paperwork 5 different times only to get the run-around from Chase's modification department. 

Last December, prior to the house being foreclosed, Tammy was informed that she had an outstanding loan balance of just under $11,000. Determined to keep her home, Tammy told that bank that she was going to take out nearly double that from her 401K savings that she had been saving from her full time job as a Customer Service Consultant and her part time job as a Sales Associate to pay off the outstanding balance. While in the middle of the process of receiving her 401K, Chase Bank moved to foreclose on her home on December 21, 2011. Get this: Instead of waiting to work with Tammy, Chase spent over $10,000 in legal fees to foreclose on the home, and sold it to a private investor at auction for only $28,000! 

Since then, Richard Blaser - the investor who purchased the property has refused to accept rent and told Tammy he would sell the house back to her for $70,000. The house is only valued at $40,000! Recently, Mr. Blaser moved to evict Tammy and her daughters from their home no-fault! An eviction hearing is scheduled for next Thursday April 12th in Housing Court. 

If Mr. Blaser accepts rent, he can still market the property occupied! Why not accept rent, keep the Sullivan's in their home of 31 years and continue to market the property?

We will not stand for investors or banks who prey on our communities and put profit before people, who would rather evict than accept rent! According to Deed records, Mr. Blaser and his associated have made a habit out of purchasing foreclosed properties and flipping them for profit. Since 2009 they've profited nearly $300,000 on purchasing foreclosed properties in the area. 

JOIN US NEXT MONDAY TO BRING THE FIGHT STRAIGHT TO MR. BLASER AND HIS ASSOCIATES! 

We'll see you there! 

Springfield No One Leaves/Nadie Se Mude Campaign

www.springfieldnooneleaves.org,nooneleavessspringfield@gmail.com,413-342-1804

Follow Springfield No One Leaves on Facebook

Today's march: young people fight foreclosure

Much more to say about today's Springfield No One Leaves and Bank Tenant Association's march against the banks, but this video by Kelly Creedon taken at the morning rally tells us why we fight and why, with youth like these, we can have hope.