The $5 million facility will provide 300 beds and some food and health services. Franklin said, “It will go down in history, in my opinion, as one of the best examples of community collaboration. I believe it will be a model for others to follow.”

The facility opened even as the Atlanta city council was debating a proposed ban on panhandling downtown, specifically in a tourist area.

The crackdown would make it illegal to voice a request for cash or other valuables—even food—anywhere within “a tourist triangle.”

About 300 people attended a July 18 city council debate on this issue. Supporters of the Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor of Atlanta, James Harris, gave out a statement there opposing the ban and talked to workers about the party’s platform.

One worker was roundly applauded when he told the city council, “Give me a job and I won’t be homeless.”

Several speakers mentioned the need for affordable housing.

“The housing crisis is a permanent feature of capitalism,” Harris pointed out. “It exists in every capitalist country and there is no Atlanta or ‘American’ solution to the problem. In the United States, there is no general shortage of housing—there is a shortage of affordable housing for working people. What workers face is the grab for profits by the billionaires who control the housing market. In Atlanta, there is actually a building boom taking place in luxury condos, and gated communities. Working people must demand a massive federally funded public works program that can address the housing crisis and put millions to work at union scale.”

This social crisis is a union question, Harris explained. Above all, workers need unions that will organize a fight for jobs, against attacks on wages and social benefits, and for affordable housing.

“Our campaign begins with the needs of working people in the world,” Harris added. “I am speaking out against the drive by Washington to prevent nations oppressed by imperialism from developing the energy sources that are necessary for economic development. Imagine how much further along the workers and farmers in semicolonial countries would be if imperialism did not prevent them from doing so. That is why our campaign supports their efforts to acquire and develop all sources of energy—including nuclear power—which are a necessity for solving problems such as housing, health care, and jobs.”  
 
 
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