The Hampton Inn, located at 120 Jericho Turnpike, Jericho, is set to become a transitional housing facility that will provide life-saving shelter to 80 homeless families at a time. In the middle of a global pandemic, finding safe, stable, and secure housing is an unthinkable challenge for the nearly 4,000 homeless people on Long Island (a number that has more than likely grown since the start of COVID-19).

Opponents of the housing site argue that it will endanger "the safety and well being of our families", then fail to support this fear-mongering claim with any evidence. This common myth used to villainize the homeless is false - homeless people are less likely to commit violent crimes than housed people, and are more likely to be the victims of such offenses (Johns Hopkins University). In other words, residents of the facility will not pose a threat to students any greater than any other individual living in the area will. On the other hand, stopping these families from living safely will undoubtedly threaten their wellbeing, which matters just as much as ours. Actively trying to stop children and families from meeting the basic human necessity of shelter is a real threat.

There are more homeless children on Long Island than there are students in Cantiague Elementary, Robert Seaman Elementary, George A. Jackson Elementary, and Jericho Middle School combined (LICH). They deserve safety. They deserve comfort. They deserve housing.

There is a dangerous petition circulating that opposes this housing site. In other towns in the past, hateful petitions not backed by any evidence like this one have succeeded, keeping countless individuals, including children and families, without access to beds, showers, toilets, meals, and roofs over their heads. We can't let that happen here.

We urge you to please join in this petition to show your support of local officials' utilizing Jericho's abundance of resources to help preserve the safety and wellbeing of our future neighbors.