Fueling the Movement with Rage and Hope: It Will Take ALL of Us

Dear WRAP Friends and Family,

As 2025 closes, we’re reminded that the people who fight hardest for justice often face the harshest attacks. It’s going to take ALL of us to weather this storm and build the new, more just world that we know is possible and that we all deserve.

Fighting Systemic Violence

Across the country, unhoused people, immigrants, trans and queer folks, and Black and brown communities face escalating assaults from police, private security, National Guard troops, and federal agents. Already skyrocketing homeless numbers are about to climb further as federal “Big Beautiful Bill” cuts take effect, with millions losing food stamps, housing subsidies, and healthcare coverage.

On top of everything in the streets, federal “crime and disorder” directives are targeting grassroots organizers and anti-fascist movements — and WRAP has been swept into a federal crackdown on grassroots social justice organizations. We’ve seen this before, with McCarthyism, COINTELPRO, and the ongoing policing of dissent. The goal is always the same: isolate, intimidate, and starve out those who refuse to compromise and are doing righteous work.

Occupations, kidnappings, arrests, property seizures, and harassment are happening with greater intensity and frequency — and we are matching it all with a fierce determination to fight back.

For twenty years now, WRAP and our members have been leading this fight: connecting local struggles into a larger movement, challenging narratives that blame individuals rather than oppressive systems, and keeping unhoused-led organizing at the center.

Authoritarians may be advancing while funders are retreating, but WRAP isn’t slowing. We’re tightening digital security, coordinating legal defense, making safety plans, and standing shoulder to shoulder with other targeted groups. We’re protecting our people and our work, guided by transparency, community, and love for the movement that made us.

Still, We Rise

The cruelty is deliberate. But so is our response. Even under attack, WRAP’s work is incredibly strong:

Fueling the Movement with Rage and Hope: It Will Take ALL of Us

Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco

Human Right to Housing Collective

Judi’s Midnight Diner

Love and Justice in the Streets

Los Angeles Community Action Network

Unhoused Neighbors Union Missoula

Street Spirit

Stop the Sweeps Seattle

Where Do We Go?

SF Art Wall

• Deepening Alliances: WRAP and our members are doubling down on strategizing in solidarity with immigrant rights, racial justice, disability rights, and other anti-criminalization movement groups to resist state repression.

• Street Outreach and Stopping the Sweeps: We trained over 100 organizations to defend encampments and practice street outreach rooted in dignity and accountability this summer, and are slated to train dozens more groups throughout the fall. We continue to support our members in myriad ways as they do street outreach, conduct mutual aid, and fight oppressive policing practices.

• Legal Defense: Five cities now host WRAP-networked legal clinics and programming, protecting unhoused people from ticketing and displacement. We continue to integrate an arsenal of legal tools into our larger systemic change strategy.

We Need Each Other More Than Ever

WRAP accomplishes an incredible amount with modest resources. We remain accountable to unhoused communities, amplifying voices that are too often silenced. Few other regional or national organizations fill this kind of role. Every dollar we receive sustains direct, urgent, people-powered organizing.

If you feel rage, hope, heartbreak, or determination reading this, that means they haven’t stolen your humanity. Their propaganda hasn’t worked. You still believe in dignity and justice for everyone.

That’s why we’re asking for your help. Our goal is to raise $80,000 — double what we usually receive in our end-of-the-year campaign — by December 31st to help carry WRAP into 2026. We need community support now to stay steady and meet this unprecedented moment.

Please make a meaningful gift — earlier and larger if you can — and know that every dollar helps us continue to lead the fight from the streets for housing, dignity, and liberation.

We truly couldn’t do this work without you. Thank you for your belief in us!!!

Peace,

Paul Boden, WRAP Executive Director, on behalf of the entire WRAP family

P.S. Your donation keeps unhoused-led organizing alive and accountable. Please give today and share this letter with someone who believes housing is a human right.

💨 Smoke Signals by Dolly 🔥 Blaze

Smoke Signals is a new Substack column written by a WRAP staff member who pens under the name “Dolly Blaze.” Rooted in history, culture, and community storytelling, Dolly’s writings explore the deeper forces shaping the issues our communities face. Their first essay, ‘The Real America Feast,’ digs into holiday food politics, corporate narratives, and the stories we all carry forward.