Protect Davis Unhoused Community

How it began:

This fundraiser began as a humble request for donations to be able to provide safety and self-defense supplies to the unhoused community in Davis in light of the recent serial stabbings. 2 of the 3 victims of these stabbings have been unhoused people. This highlights an existing tragic societal failure: unhoused people are incredibly vulnerable to violence, and provided with little to no means of protecting themselves. And despite the emergency shelter efforts by the City of Davis, many unhoused members of our community are still vulnerable and sleeping outside unprotected. It is therefore important to provide immediate aid to these individuals to keep them as safe as possible.

In just one day we were able to make contact with unhoused people across town to meet them where they are and ask about the emergency supplies they need most. We were able to direct unhoused people to available shelters, distribute items in need such as tarps, first aid supplies and more, and pay for emergency shelter at a nearby hotel for unhoused community members when shelters were full and no longer accepting people past sundown. All of this was made possible by volunteer work from the Gatorade Brigade (a mutual aid branch of Yolo People Power) and many other volunteers, and by your generous donations (and we’ve only spent a small fraction of that)!

Though the scope of this fundraiser has broadened immensely, its aim has not. We operate on the principle of mutual aid. As community members, it is the responsibility of each of us to help support our neighbors, no matter their current housing situation. Mutual aid outlines a duty and opportunity we all share to provide for those in need, especially those who fall through the cracks of government-backed services. That is why a central component of this fundraiser relies on voluntary canvassing of the unhoused community around Davis to ask them directly what unique short- and long-term needs unhoused people in Davis have.

What comes next:

This fund belongs to the unhoused community and no one else. We are a group of volunteer community members who are committed to meeting unhoused people where they are and offering the support that they most need and want, something no organization is currently doing.

Yesterday, unhoused people across town indicated the supplies most in need: tarps, lanterns, first aid supplies, and emergency shelter. These supplies and needs will continue to be our focus for as long as we face the clear and present danger of violence that this past week’s stabbings have presented.

Out of the incredible amount that has been raised, $2,000 is being set aside for the summer months, when intense heat is a serious threat that unhoused people face. Cooling centers are sporadically open during the hottest of summer days across town but do not fill the need gap that unhoused people experience. We will have funds and volunteers ready to support unhoused people in Davis when that time comes.

What’s next? With your generous support, all things are possible. And that is exactly what unhoused communities need. We aim to empower a disenfranchised community to decide for themselves what support they need the most to address the problems that nonprofits and other organizations in the area do not address. We are not an organization with paid staff or sponsors – we are simply neighbors standing in solidarity with unhoused people across Davis – this is what community looks like, and each of you helped create it, donation by donation.

If you donate to this fundraiser, you are empowering unhoused people to address their unique needs – no one is more of an expert on what unhoused people need than the unhoused community themselves.

If you can’t or choose not to donate to this fundraiser, we hope that you will still believe in the central message of this campaign and hold that in your hearts. The next time you pass an unhoused person in your community, recognize that they are your neighbor. If you want to help, let them teach you about what they need and want. If you’re so inclined, create your own fundraising campaign with this philosophy, where the people in need own the means of their liberation! Restoring respect, dignity, and empowerment to the unhoused community is the first step in combating the disenfranchisement that makes unhoused people vulnerable and oppressed.

--

Note: A work-in-progress expense budget is viewable to the public here: GoFundMe Expense Budget. Please bear with us as we continue to refine the document, as most of the on-the-ground and organizing work outlined above is urgent and requires most of our resources at the moment.