Ocean State Action celebrates
2nd Annual Health Care Policy Heroes!
Please Join Us to Honor
State Representative Ray Sullivan,
SEIU 1199,
and Nancy St. Germain
Guest Speakers to include:
Margarida Jorge, National Field Director for Health Care for America Now (HCAN), formerly of SEIU, AFSCME,
and Missouri ProVote
Jeff Blum, Executive Director of USAction
Monday, June 21st, 2010, 6PM - 8PM
Local 121, Providence
Get your tickets here.
Tell Congress: Protect Consumers and Hold the Big Wall Street Banks Accountable!
Call Senator Jack Reed Toll Free TODAY at 1-866-544-7573.
Tell Senator Reed to support financial reform that holds big Wall Street Banks accountable.
Historic health reform has passed! The bill is a victory for the American people:
- Insurance companies can no longer deny care for pre-existing conditions, charge you more if you’re sick, cap your benefits, sell you junk insurance, or raise rates with impunity.
- For the first time, Members of Congress will get their health insurance from the same system regular Americans do.
- Small business and working families will security and stability knowing they can afford good health insurance that meets their needs.
- 32 million uninsured Americans will get affordable coverage, saving over 30,000 lives per year.
Read an op-ed from a Rhode Island emergency physician explaining why we need reform.
Now write your own!
- Health Care Policy Heroes
- Flat Tax Repeal
- Finance Reform
- Health Care Reform
|
 |
 |
Rhode Islanders Say NO to Foreclosure Evictions
International Human Rights Day Event takes place during a National Week of Action for a People's Economic Recovery Package
Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2008
On Wednesday, December 10 at 5:15pm outside of 804 Potters Avenue in Providence, tenants and homeowners affected by the foreclosure crisis will be joined by organizations across the state in a press conference and blockade warning. The event is taking place at the location of a three-family house which has been foreclosed upon.
Tenants in the house have received letters from a real estate agency and a law office representing the bank that currently owns the house, notifying them that they are being asked to vacate the premises. Pedro Rodriguez and Pedro Alba, two tenants in the house, explain, "Many tenants across Rhode Island are being forced out of their homes as a result of post-foreclosure evictions. We do not want this to happen to us. We are paying tenants and have no intention of moving."
The event is taking place on International Human Rights Day, and is part of a National Week of Action for a People's Economic Recovery Package. Several organizations will participate in the event, along with the RI Bank Tenant and Homeowner Association, including DARE Direct Action for Rights and Equality, HOPE, Housing Action Coalition, Ocean State Action, Olneyville Neighborhood Association, Providence Students for a Democratic Society, RI Coalition for the Homeless, and RI Jobs with Justice. Together, groups will:
- Announce the the Bank Tenant and Homeowner Bill of Rights. Among other things, the Bill of Rights asserts the right of tenants and homeowners affected by foreclosures to stay in their homes and pay rent to the bank, or to buy their own homes at a fair price.
- Call for City, State, and Federal lawmakers to pass a People's Economic Recovery Package, including:
- A Moratorium on all Foreclosures & Evictions;
- Passage of legislation further protecting the rights of tenants and homeowners affected by foreclosures (such as "Just Cause" laws which state that tenants can only be evicted when there is just cause to do so, which does not include sale of the property);
- Other legislation and protections for Workers Rights, Health Care, Immigrant Rights, and more.
- Issue a "Blockade Warning" - Stating that if banks try to evict the tenants at 804 Potters Avenue (orother tenants who also wish to stay in their homes and pay rent to the bank), we will organize blockades to prevent the tenants from being evicted.
The previous owner had an adjustable rate mortgage which could increase by 1.5% every six months, up to 16.875%. Rosalina Collazo of the RI Coalition for the Homeless, states "We believe that people should be able to stay in their homes, and a safe, decent, warm place to live. People are being surprised by the banks coming to the house with a 48-hour notice - they are panicking, and many are becoming homeless. It's time to stop this from happening to any more families." Ayda Rivera, a member of DARE and of the RI Bank Tenant and Homeowner Association, explains, "Banks are receiving huge bail-outs, paid by our tax dollars - but we are being told to leave our homes, and workers are being laid off, even though the banks created this mess in the first place! We will not
stand for this any more. There is something we can do. It's time for a Bail-out that helps the majority of people who are struggling in our city, state, and country."
-XXX- |
|
Visit the Rhode Island Policy Reporter at What Cheer! for up-to-date policy analysis and reports.
|
