The Peoples Housing Collective

Can you imagine waking up every morning not knowing if you’ll be harassed, ticketed, or arrested just for existing? Can you imagine your entire life packed into a shopping cart, watching as the little you own gets swept into a garbage truck by city workers? Can you imagine being treated like a criminal for sleeping in your car, for pitching a tent when the rain comes, for trying to stay alive?

Under the Trump administration, alternative living was increasingly criminalized. Cities across the country passed laws that made it illegal to sleep outside, rest in public, or park overnight. Police and sanitation crews carried out constant “sweeps.” Destroying tents, blankets, medications, and survival gear. Public space became hostile territory for those with nowhere else to go.

And yet, the causes of being without a house like skyrocketing rents, stagnant wages, lack of mental health services, systemic racism, and the destruction of social safety nets unfortunately remained untouched. Instead of addressing the crisis, politicians chose to punish the most vulnerable.

This is not just a policy failure…it’s a moral failure.

The solution starts with you.

We created the People’s Housing Collective to stand in that gap not to wait for permission, but to act.

We go directly to areas where unhoused populations are dense encampments, underpasses, riverbanks, industrial zones and we build temporary, safe housing. We bring outreach teams carrying water, food, medical supplies, and harm reduction kits. We offer legal support for houseless people fighting harassment, fines, and displacement.

We organize collective mutual aid networks connecting unhoused and housed community members in shared defense, resource distribution, and solidarity. We hold free educational and organizing trainings so that those directly impacted can lead their own fights for dignity and rights.

Our organizing model follows GAIA’s proven approach:

  1. Organizing Summits with coalition partners to coordinate strategies.

  2. Direct outreach to the unhoused community to shape demands and ensure they have full agency in the campaign.

  3. Locking in proposals that reflect the will of those most impacted.

  4. High-visibility actions to push cities to adopt housing-first policies and stop criminalizing survival.


    Can you imagine what it feels like to have a roof over your head for the first time in years? Can you imagine sleeping through the night without fear of police waking you up with a flashlight in your face? Can you imagine knowing your belongings will still be there in the morning?

    The People’s Housing Collective fights for a city where every single person has the right to shelter, where public resources go to building homes, not harassing those without. .

    Our victories will be measured in:

    • Housing secured temporary shelters built, and permanent housing placements won.

    • Policy changes bans on camping criminalization, legal protections for the unhoused.

    • Community power an organized base of unhoused leaders who can defend their rights and win systemic change.

    When we win, no one will be invisible. No one will be disposable. And the most vulnerable will be recognized as neighbors, leaders, and full members of our communities.

    1. Direct Service & Mutual Aid

      • Build and maintain temporary shelters in high-density unhoused areas.

      • Provide food, water, medical aid, and harm reduction resources.

    2. Legal Advocacy

      • Partner with lawyers to fight citations, sweeps, and harassment.

      • File legal challenges against anti-homeless ordinances.

    3. Community Organizing

      • Host GAIA-style free trainings for leadership development among the unhoused.

      • Facilitate collective decision-making and proposal drafting.

    4. Public Campaign & Policy Pressure

      • Organize visible actions to pressure cities to end criminalization and adopt housing-first solutions.

      • Demand budget shifts from policing to housing, healthcare, and mental health services.

  • Tactics & Strategies

    • Encampment Defense Actions: Rapid response teams to physically and legally block sweeps.

    • Public Visibility Actions: Street theater, banner drops, marches, and encampment “open houses” to shift public perception.

    • City Hall Pressure: Coordinated disruptions during council meetings, press conferences, and public hearings.

    • Coalition Power Mapping: Identify and move key decision-makers with targeted community pressure.

    • Community Media Work: Storytelling that centers the voices of unhoused people, amplified through press and social media.

  • Measuring Success

    • Number of unhoused people provided with temporary or permanent housing.

    • Number of harmful ordinances blocked or repealed.

    • Legal victories protecting unhoused rights.

    • Growth of an unhoused-led leadership base.

    • Increased public support for housing-first policies.

Join Us

The People’s Housing Collective is built by the people, for the people. Whether you can help construct shelters, provide supplies, join outreach, or simply stand in solidarity. We need you.

💡 Get involved today.
📅 Come to our next organizing meeting.
📣 Help us spread the word.

Together, we will protect the right to exist. And build a city where everyone has a place to call home.