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Right 2 Dream Too

“The right to rest, the right to sleep, and the Right 2 Dream Too”

May 8, 2012 New RIGHT 2 SURVIVE & RIGHT 2 DREAM TOO PRESENT: A NIGHT TO DREAM

A Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction For The Houseless

Saturday, May 12, 6 p.m. at SEIU Banquet Hall 6401 SE Foster Rd, Portland, OR 97026
 
Portland, OR-Featuring the first-ever live performance of Tom Waits’ epic poem ‘SEEDS ON HARD GROUND’ by celebrated Portland Actors: Ebbe Roe Smith, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Robert Projansky, Brynn Baron, Karen Wennstrom, Penuel Corbin, Brian MacEwan and Valerie Martinka. As well as musical entertainment by activist-rapper Mic Crenshaw, who the Portland Mercury called (with the Lifesavas) “two of the very best hip-hop acts in PDX”.  Come and meet some amazing unhoused individuals who are making a difference not only in their lives but in the lives of their neighbors and community. Come enjoy a buffet style dinner, auction items, and educational materials raising awareness about the houseless community in Portland.
 
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Right 2 Dream Too on NW 4th and W. Burnside or online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/243993
For More Info or Tickets, Please Contact Sophia K. at (971) 409-0275 or kinhnarathsophia@gmail.com
Proceeds will be used to pay the fines of Right 2 Dream Too and to fund Right 2 Survive projects.
 
Right to Survive (R2S) is an organization of homeless people of circumstances, the formerly homeless, and their allies. R2S is working to ensure that everyone has the right to sleep, the right to shelter, the right to self support, the right to safety, the right to simple living, the right to sustainability, the right to sit and lie, the right to share and barter and the right say so!
 
Right 2 Dream Too (affectionately called R2D2), is a nonprofit organization operating a space where people can rest or sleep safely and undisturbed. It’s mission is to provide refuge for Portland’s unhoused community who cannot access affordable housing or shelter space.
 
Right 2 Dream Too exists to awaken social and political groups to the importance of safe and undisturbed sleep. Our purpose is to create a place where unhoused people can rest or sleep without being rousted by police or private security and without being under the constant threat of violence. We hope to create a cost-effective, self-sustaining model that can be replicated elsewhere.

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January 24, 2012 RIGHT 2 DREAM TOO RALLY AT CITY HALL

Waive the fines on Right 2 Dream Too!

 

Wednesday February 1

8:30am

Portland City Hall

SW 4th and Madison

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/162521970523197/

 

   Hundreds of people sleep on the streets of Portland every night, there are often no beds available at shelters, and it can take months or even years to get into transitional or permanent affordable housing. Right 2 Dream Too provides refuge and a safe space to rest or sleep undisturbed for dozens of people who are experiencing homelessness in downtown Portland at no cost to the city.

   The City of Portland’s Bureau of Development Services (BDS) says R2DToo must comply with state Recreational Camping Ordinances or pay monthly fines. The initial fine is $641.30, and doubles every two months after that.

    Join us at the rally Wednesday February 1.  Tell the City of Portland to waive the fines imposed on Right to Dream Too and support our work providing refuge and a safe space to rest or sleep undisturbed for Portland’s unhoused community who cannot access affordable housing or shelter.

 

Right 2 Dream Too and Right 2 Survive

r2spdx@gmail.com

(503) 839-9992


Right 2 Survive is a group of houseless and formerly houseless individuals dedicated to teaching about and defending the human, civil, and constitutional rights of people experiencing homelessness.

 

Right 2 Dream Too provides refuge and a safe space to rest or sleep undisturbed for Portland’s unhoused community who cannot access affordable housing or shelter. R2DToo was established on World Homeless Action Day, October 10, 2011.

 

December 1, 2011 R2DToo in Willamette Week

Ibrahim Mubarak, one of our founding organizers, is featured in a current Willamette Week story about people fighting for the 99%.  We wouldn’t be here without Ibrahim’s dedication and resolve.  Thanks to the WW and Ib for helping us get out the message about what we’re trying to do here.

November 27, 2011 Elderly right to dreamer being released from hospital

Eric went into the hospital 11 days ago and his release is fast approaching.  He has heart problems and needs to take medications to help him.  Eric forgets sometimes to take his medications and could use access to regular meals.  Eric was the first person to sleep at Right 2 Dream Too.  He approached us during our meeting the night before the grand opening, and we set up a tent for him to get some much needed sleep.  He was at R2D Too every night after, until we brought him to the hospital.  The social worker at the hospital is working on possible housing, but it may just be for two weeks.  Eric is eventually going to get his social security he has worked for his whole life.  But we want to be ready for any possible outcome, he may end up on the streets again, and with his current medical conditions he really shouldn’t be.  Does anyone have a room they want to share with him, or any ideas of how we can help Eric out till he gets his income going??  This is a shout out for brainstorming on this.  Tell us what you think!

October 20, 2011 10/10/11

10/10/11

World Homeless Action Day. Right 2 Dream Too opens a rest area.

October 20, 2011 Updated wishlist

We just took a little poll around the space and came up with an updated wishlist of  items everyone thought would be really helpful. Thanks so much for all the support everyone has shown so far.

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October 18, 2011 Solidarity from Occupy Portland

October 18th, 2011 ·

This open letter from the General Assembly of Occupy Portland affirms our solidarity with the homeless people in our city.  We ask that City ordinances currently used to criminalize homeless people be suspended until new solutions are found.  This request is in accordance with the official Bill of Rights for Children and Youth as adopted by Portland and Multnomah County:  “Shelter:  We have the inherent right to shelter.  The City of Portland and Multnomah County should continue their efforts to provide adequate shelter to those who need it.”

The number of unhoused people living on the streets of Portland has steadily increased over the past ten years in spite of good intentions to reduce homelessness to zero.  Instead, Portland city officials are now cracking down on the efforts of a nonprofit homeless organization, “Right to Dream Too” (R2DToo) to open their self-help site, a rest area for those forced to live outdoors (located next to the Chinatown gate on Burnside Street).  Their goals are modest and very basic: “The right to rest, the right to sleep, and the right to dream, too.”

The Occupy Wall Street movement is calling attention to the increasing inequality and economic injustice across the country.  One frequent grievance is the rise of evictions due to home foreclosures, a trend which has been exposed as caused by banks’ irresponsible manipulation of loans.  Many more Americans are now on the precarious edge of living one or two paychecks away from joining the homeless.  This is a state of economic emergency which calls out for extraordinary action by governments.

We encourage you to open dialogue with alternative solutions — such as the R2DToo rest area, which is legally leased on private property, and is run by experienced volunteers with support from the community. Such efforts in self-determination and bootstrap self-help cost the City nothing, as they are funded by charity and managed by the hard work of volunteer organizers.  Such projects are in the American vein of self-reliance and also strengthen community bonds.  We invite you to help such grassroots solutions.

Finally, The Bill of Rights for Children and Youth can be found prominently displayed on the reception desk of Mayor Adams’ office, and is also online at the County website.  It affirms what Occupy Portland also affirms: the inalienable right to survive, which requires shelter.  Families and individuals who cannot live indoors, for whatever reason, should not be swept out of sight and mind. They deserve the human dignity to be seen and to exist in our city.

Thank you for considering this appeal, and we welcome your response.

Occupy Portland, General Assembly

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October 14, 2011 On World Homeless Action Day, Right 2 Dream Too opened our new space at W. Burnside & NW 4th Avenue in Portland

On World Homeless Day (October 10, 2011), in Portland, OR, Right 2 Dream Too (R2DToo) established a membership space at the corner of West Burnside and NW 4th Avenue, in Portland, OR.  The purposes of the space are as follows:

  • To awaken social and political groups to the importance of safe and undisturbed sleep.
  • To create a safe, secure place for members to be.
  • To create places where members can sleep safely and undisturbed.
  • To engage in other educational activities as the Board of Directors shall determine.

R2DToo is a newly founded Oregon nonprofit organization supported by members of Right 2 Survive, a group of houseless and formerly houseless individuals dedicated to defending the human, civil and constitutional rights of people experiencing homelessness.

R2DToo’s facility provides refuge for Portland’s unhoused community who cannot access the insufficient stock of affordable housing and shelter space to rest or sleep undisturbed.  Currently, because of city ordinances that prohibit camping on public property and restrict people’s rights simply to sit or lie on sidewalks, Portland’s unhoused population is frequently under tremendous stress and unable to get the proper amount of rest.  This is one of the principle contributing factors to the tremendous health disparities and high morbidity rates of people experiencing homelessness in our community.

R2DToo’s new space also provides a safe, welcoming place for people who daily and nightly face the threat of violence on our city streets.  All members agree to abide by a code of conduct that respects the rights of fellow members and our neighbors to share our public spaces civilly and equitably.  Our space is guided by and adheres to principles of nonviolence.  Plans include the possibility of providing limited storage space for members to address the need for unhoused individuals to have a secure place for storing belongings.

R2DToo hopes to offer educational programs and other forms of mutual support and aid as resources become available.  It is R2DToo’s intention to take input and direction from its members in designing programs, trainings, events and activities.  R2DToo believes that people experiencing homelessness are the experts at surviving on the streets and are capable of providing the essential peer support that is currently lacking in efforts to address the homeless crisis in our city and our country.

Ibrahim Mubarak, co-founder of Right 2 Survive, Dignity Village and Board Member of R2DToo, says “This is a direct result of the government’s failure to admit that we have a housing problem in this country – not only has the government failed to admit it, it has failed to act on it.”  The housing crisis that has come to national attention since 2008 has deeper roots in the refusal of the Federal government to recognize housing as a human right.  As long as this remains the case, homelessness will not end and we must explore alternative, cost-effective pathways for those who lack housing or who current programs, for a variety of reasons, do not serve.  R2DToo hopes its space and the programs it develops will serve as a model for addressing the unmet needs of thousands of Portlanders and will inspire others in possession of empty lots or buildings to consider creating similar spaces.

R2DToo is accepting donations and has a wishlist of needed items at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Right-2-Dream-Too/291307830880922

For more information about Right 2 Survive, please visit Right 2 Survive at http://right2survive.wordpress.com/

For more information about World Homeless Day, please visit: http://www.worldhomelessday.org/

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