The Colorado Springs community was shocked to its core recently after news broke that 73 elderly tenants of Emerald Towers Apartments were being evicted after a new property management company takes over. An eviction notice given to all residents said those who vacate in 21 days would be given $500, an insulting number for forcing them to completely uproot their lives, and have a total of 60 days to move out. And to add insult to injury, these residents were told they could re-apply to live in their homes after the new property management company finishes renovations. Though truly shocking in its inhumanity, this is far from an isolated incident and until we the people stand up and say, “No more!”, this will only continue to happen. We have the power to fight these injustices, if only we choose to exercise it.
A rarity in Colorado Springs, there seems to have been rather universal outrage in the community in response to such a heinous act perpetrated against some of our most vulnerable neighbors. Service providers have surveyed residents to determine their needs, plans are in motion to get free moving services, a petition has been started asking for a resolution, and a rally is planned to protest this and other examples of unjust evictions. The community has mobilized, and it is our responsibility to continue and expand this mobilization long after this incident is resolved so we can truly address the systemic issues of housing insecurity and homelessness.
Rents in our community continue to skyrocket and Colorado has quickly gone from being one of the most affordable places to live in the country to one of the most expensive. Although Colorado recently voted to raise our minimum wage to $12/hr, with the explosive rise in rent prices and cost of living, $12/hr will not be adequate. Unless we take drastic measures now to mitigate this crisis, the number of people who are housing insecure and people experiencing homelessness will only continue to grow.
First and foremost, we need local legislation defining housing as a basic human right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United States signed and the US Senate ratified, states in Article 25, Section 1, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” As the United States has signed and ratified this treaty it is our legal obligation to abide by it, and our local government must explicitly state through legislation that it will recognize these fundamental rights in its jurisdiction. Not to mention the preamble of our Constitution, which explicitly states that its role is to “establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty.” We cannot live up to our own country’s ideals if people are housing insecure or homeless.
When housing is recognized as a human right, it logically follows that no person should be without a home or be forced to pay so much in rent that they can’t afford other basic necessities like food and medical care. 40 percent of renters in Colorado spend more than a third of their income on housing and that number is only expected to grow. This creates immense economic instability in the lives of working Colorado families which can have devastating effects on their wellbeing. There is an immediate need for our local government to continue forward with plans for a Tiny House community for our homeless neighbors. This initiative will help the most destitute of our neighbors. For the housing insecure and for any group of neighbors who wish to collectively bargain, legally recognized tenants’ unions and neighborhood associations are necessary to give power to the people to negotiate rent prices and address other issues.
There is also a fundamental need in our society to shift our philosophy when it comes to poverty, homelessness, and housing insecurity. Although the community was nearly unanimous in its outrage to this incident, many still fail to recognize that it is systemic failures that cause these tragedies to happen, not character flaws on the part of our societies’ most vulnerable. In response to the idea that housing is a human right, many have asserted that “you should have to work to have a home” or some variation thereof. Others have flat out denied that housing is a human right. One cannot assert that they are upset about the incident at Emerald Towers but not question the system causing it to happen. This is not an isolated incident – it’s a widespread problem caused by systemic failures. Only through opposition to this system and the creation of a new one will these tragedies be avoided in the future.
We, the community of Colorado Springs, will no longer allow these injustices to take place in our beloved home without a fight. For far too long injustices such as these have been happening under the radar or with minimal media coverage. We will shed light on these injustices, lobby for reform, rally and march, and fight with a tenacity this city has never seen. Onward to victory!