Mission Statement and Principles

Mission Statement:
People’s Housing Project is a grassroots-funded, democratically-run organization that was formed in response to the capitalist housing crisis. We create opportunities for housed and unhoused folks to work together to improve the health and dignity of our communities.

We provide emergency shelters  to houseless folks, combine them with support services like weekly trash and needle cleans, and we lead community-building and education events.

Principles:
1)  Grassroots Funding
PHPPDX, being aware of the facts:
-That all written history of previously existing society is the history of class struggle,
-That every government is a class-government, by and for the ruling class of its era,
-That homelessness is caused by private property itself,
-That the idea of “housing as a human right” is fundamentally incompatible with capitalism

Is therefore resolved to:

-Never take money from any large corporations, capitalist political parties, or government entities,
-Encourage systemic change beyond housing justice that will create a more harmonious, equal, and just world,
-Provide fundraising advice/training and material support to grassroots-funded housing justice groups across the United States

2) The Right to Shelter, and Solidarity with the Houseless
PHPPDX, being aware of the facts:
-That our collective faiths and morals dictate that every human being deserves shelter as a human right
-That the city’s efforts to displace the unhoused constitutes a criminal violation of that right
-That being treated with basic dignity is a courtesy denied to the unhoused
-That every community, with the proper resources, is capable of self-organization and the right to self-determination.

Is therefore resolved to:

-Provide shelters to the unhoused, regardless of the so-called “legality”
-Work directly with unhoused camps/communities to assist in their self-organization, and election of camp leadership
-Collaborate directly with houseless leadership to ensure the cleanliness and safety of all of Portland’s residents
-Foster a culture and politics of dignity towards the unhoused and hostility towards those who would displace them
-Defend houseless encampments from attempted sweeps by the city

3) Liberation/Decolonization
PHPPDX, being aware of the facts:
-That the government of the United States is illegitimate, founded on both stolen land and stolen people,
-That all laws, including anti-homeless laws, continue to be traditionally enforced along racist and ableist lines,
-That decolonization is not a metaphor; it is a process by which land and power are removed from the colonial government,

Is therefore resolved to:

-Take a firm and unapologetic stand with national and international decolonial and anti-incarceration efforts
-Uplift and empower BIPOC voices within and around houseless rights and housing justice issues
-Build a multi-racial, feminist, and class-conscious houseless rights and housing justice organization

4) Democratic/Horizontal Organization
PHPPDX, being aware of the facts:
-That all human beings are equal in rights, if not in abilities
-That unelected and/or non-consensual hierarchies are fundamentally unjust
-That collaborative efforts produce synergistic results greater than the sum of their parts

Is therefore resolved to:

-Develop democratic and horizontal structures of power-sharing and governance
-Be consensus-oriented as a goal in decision-making
-Work in good faith as equals within the organization
-Encourage the creation or enhancement of horizontal and democratic structures in other groups
-Provide advice and material support to other democratically organized housing justice groups