Plans by housing-justice activists to “reclaim” a foreclosed house in the city yesterday did not work out quite as planned. The event, organized by Arise for Social Justice and Springfield No One Leaves/Nadie Se Mude, had planned to clean up and reclaim an abandoned house on Wilbraham Road. But as Jack Flynn reports in today’s Republican, that plan was dropped after police warned that the house was private property and activists could be arrested for trespassing.
The aborted plan to reclaim the house notwithstanding, yesterday’s event was the local kick-off of a national campaign called “Homes For All: Reclaiming, Remaining In & Rebuilding Our Cities,” which is pushing the federal government to do more to ensure safe and affordable housing for all. The event included a “housing crisis tour,” highlighting the city’s housing problem, with stops at vacant and foreclosed properties and a homeless shelter, among other places.
