Concerned Whittier Residents, 

Whittier faced a large increase in houseless residents in 2019, yet our community never saw an increase in resources for the houseless. Majority of the local programs for the food and housing insecure are severely exaggerated. They require that those looking for help are recommended by an outside facility, pay in cash, or have medical insurance to cover their treatment. 

The city website and the Salvation Army claim that “First Day” is an emergency homeless shelter. However, it is actually a transitional housing center that requires a recommendation from a jail, rehabilitation center, or prison. Whittier does not have a shelter at all. We can say this in confidence because our team has personally investigated each of the listed programs on both the Whittier City website and the Salvation Army local resource list which can be found at either of the Whittier locations. Our team compiled a list of Whittier programs that were accurate as of June 10th 2020, which can be found here.

Whittier works against its houseless instead of with. Whittier Mayor Joe Vinatieri called the houseless a “leak” that needs to be “mopped up” (Campaign Website for Joe Vinatieri). There is supposed plans for a Whittier shelter, but this was not done out of empathy. The Salvation Army was invited to build a shelter to, “put Whittier in compliance with a federal order that ruled it was unconstitutional for local governments to evict people from parks and public spaces when no other shelter was available” (Greenleaf Guardian). Our team followed up with the location where the shelter is named to be built, 7926 Pickering Ave, and their staff told us that they were not sure when the shelter is supposed to be completed. We then followed up with Whittier City Hall and we were told that the most likely date of completion is early 2021. 

In the extreme poverty, unemployment, and housing insecurity that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the entire country, the conditions for the houseless in Whittier are unacceptable and the city council should be ashamed. Those who are depending on rent freezes and unemployment benefits for survival are set to face extremely harsh circumstances when the rent freezes are lifted and the $600 boost in unemployment benefits ends in July. 

Heart of Whittier is demanding that an emergency shelter become available until the Salvation Army shelter is complete. We are occupying Central Park in Uptown Whittier and will not leave until our demand is met. We understand our rights as protestors, we will care and support each other by policing ourselves, and we will hold strong to our demand with absolutely no room for negotiation.

Our demand list is as follows:

1. THE SHELTER MUST BE AN ALL INCLUSIVE PUBLIC SHELTER 

2. THE EMERGENCY SHELTER MUST MAINTAIN THE PROGRAMS IMPLEMENTED BY HEART OF WHITTIER. 

3. LAWSUITS AGAINST WHITTIER POLICE OFFICERS MUST COME OUT OF THEIR PENSIONS

4. ALL DISCIPLINARY RECORDS AND COMPLAINTS AGAINST WHITTIER POLICE OFFICERS ARE TO BE MADE PUBLIC RECORD IN A TIMELY FASHION

5. A PERMANENT MEMORIAL WILL BE CREATED FOR JONATHAN SALCIDO, MEGAN ORTEGA, AND CASSONDRA HAWTHORNE

How can the city of Whittier afford all this? After decades of studies, experiments, and research exposures, the police state has proven to be counterproductive to community safety. Whittier City Council increases the budget for the Whittier Police Department every year. Our team composed a series of charts that presents in detail where the police budget has increased from 2016-2019. The charts can be found here. These increases have not resulted in an increase in public safety, and they could have be put to better use in social programs. All facts considered, H.O.W. will not accept budget grievances as the reason why the shelter cannot be built immediately. 

Whittier for Social Justice released the following statistics regarding the Whittier Police Department’s budget. It is extremely helpful in understanding how severely Whittier’s money is being displaced: 

Over half of our annual budget is spent on funding the Whittier Police Department. In contrast, only 25.68% of the budget is spent on the categories of ‘Community Development,’ ‘Libraries,’ and ‘Parks, Recreation, and Community Services’ COMBINED. According to the Annual Budget Fiscal Year 2019-2020, the City of Whittier spent $35,621,255 or 52.91% of the Total Whittier City Budget of $67,319,745 on policing. At the same time, only $276,077 or 0.4% of the budget was dedicated to 'Social Services' (Whittier City Budget p.178). In comparison, Chief of Police Jeff Piper 2018's salary was $225,406.29, and he made an additional $11,218.13 in “Other Pay." Based on this 2018 figure, the City of Whittier only spends $40,000 more on Social Services for a city of 86,000 than the combined salary for ONE Chief of Police, $236,624.42 (Transparent California).

We invite you to join our fight for an emergency shelter. For hands-on volunteering, you can join our team, attend protests, or stay in an occupy tent. For virtual volunteering, you can join our team, call or email city officials, or donate to the cause. We have made available a template for both call and email options, with the numbers and emails attached to the document. 

In order keep up with protest updates, potential location changes, police reactions, and city official responses, we ask that you follow our Instagram page @heartofwhittier. We will be there to answer any questions you may have and our direct messages are open for volunteering opportunities. 

Please visit our Google Folder that contains the petition, flyers, pamphlets, agendas, the donation lists, and call-in templates here.