Homefulness through Thick and Thin
by Ziair Hughes
Homefulness has helped me and my family for as long as we've been here. A place like this is heaven on earth and many people dream for and about Homefulness.
Eleven years ago, Homefulness and Poor Magazine had a dream to build affordable housing, a tuition free school and organic produce. All of these things were set in stone and people made it happen, but the housing was not a smooth transaction with all the permits, blockages, and fees from the City of Oakland.
One BIG burden was lifted, the $40,000 fee, but we’re still fighting to build these houses for the people/US. You may ask why or what the $40k fee is for…well, it is an impact fee. An impact fee is a charge that happens when you take too long to build something. The city gives you two years to build and if you don't accomplish the process in that time, they hit you with a fee – which is again the impact fee. Another set back was parking spaces. At the time, parking was a major problem, but we in fact don't have any cars for parking spaces. They tried to make us build an unnecessary parking lot so it could be another roadblock. But in the long run, we WON.
Why Homefulness needs to be Co-signed
Because Homefulness is a SOLUTION to homelessness, Homefulness doesn’t do it for show or to even look good. They do it because they believe land doesn’t belong to anybody and therefore we all should be equally housed. Additionally, families are depending on Homefulness for safe shelter.
Conclusion: Homefulness and Poor Magazine hold up a lot of people, including me and my family, and I can’t thank Tiny enough. Even though it may seem like I don’t acknowledge it, I do appreciate it. But not just me, many other people appreciate it…a lot. Homefulness is almost ready and now We Are Coming Worldwide because I believe all people should practice this movement – in Russia, London, Nigeria, Utah, Arkansas (kkklan part) and many other places.
We did it! Appreciation to Tiny, Poor magazine, and all the people who stood out there with us on the 5th, because like Tiny said, it couldn't have happened without all of you. Everyone needed to push Homefulness through the door.
“Change won’t come from a pimp, slave or a institution change will only come from a poor people led revolution!” -Tiny Gray-Garcia
