Fighting Sweeps by Building Community.

Everyone is familiar with a sweep, be it by definition, bearing witness to somebody being displaced or even coming across a familiar place and noticing people who used to live there are suddenly gone. Sweeps happen every day in our communities. Yet despite new policies, rhetoric and media portrayals of sweeps and city government’s asinine excuses for doing them (i.e. Health or Drug issues), the underlying reality of what sweeps are and the impact they have on people’s lives stays the same. Sweeps are dehumanizing, violent and in no way connected to services or housing at all, they are simply criminalizing people who can’t afford a decent place to live. So, we fight back against them.

Community-based outreach will always be the principal factor in identifying the priorities & direction of campaigns for both WRAP & our members. WRAP member orgs have been fighting sweeps locally from day one. In 2019 when we launched our House Keys Not Sweeps Campaign, we knew we had to fight hard and rep what’s real, so we also launched a WRAP-wide sweeps street outreach initiative. Through documentation, discussion and constant feedback, the campaign reflects the impacts of sweeps that are intentionally overlooked and receive little to no coverage. 

As of today, 300 outreach forms have been compiled by organizers going into the community and documenting people’s experiences. This outreach reflects the communities of six cities, and the universal trends among them affirm what has been clear from the beginning: sweeps displace people from their community, much like Anti-Okie and Sundown Town Laws were back in their day. People have a right to exist! People have a right to decency and respect! 

Fight Sweeps & Organize Zine

Outreach is a building block for organizing. It is a critical activity that is used to ensure our work in the community is accountable. It is a two-way education process between a organization and the members of the community where we live!

A Sweeps Coloring Book

A coloring book to help understand sweeps, how organizers fight back against the criminalization, destruction of private property and banishment of poor & homeless people from our communities.

National Sweeps Outreach 
Fact Sheet

Members of the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) are conducting a street outreach initiative as part of our campaign to fight sweeps/displacement. This outreach keeps us accountable to the community as it captures the priorities, experiences and realities of our community members directly impacted by these inhumane practices.

National Sweeps Outreach Forms

Reach out to WRAP & we can connect you with

a Member organization, assist your local organizing & plug you into our outreach effort! 

Available in English & Spanish!

House keys Not Sweeps Video

Houseless people often live in communities or “encampments” for their safety and well being. Belongings and community are necessary for survival, but private and public agencies have deemed both these things illegal and are aggressively and violently policing, sweeping, harassing and attacking our houseless neighbors. They are evicted from their encampments and their life preserving belongings are repeatedly stolen.