Central Outreach and Advocacy Center

Last week was an exciting week in the OAC advocacy world, with two wins that were, in part, a result of our advocacy efforts!

First we got word that the Department of Driver Services Board approved a state rule amendment eliminating the MVR requirement!

Less than two hours later we found out that the broken restroom outside of City Hall will be replaced by the end of summer!

Both of these changes are issues we have been advocating around for over a year alongside many of you, and they serve as a powerful reminder that persistence and collective action can lead to meaningful change.

While we wanted to share and celebrate these wins, our advocacy work is not done yet! If any of you have contacts at the Department of Driver Services that you’d like to connect us with, please email our Advocacy Coordinator Sarah Zimbardi ([email protected]).

We're excited to host our Barbershop event this Friday, May 29th! Be sure to stop in and sign up today! *Limited Space, First come, first served.

We will be closed today in observation of Memorial Day!

In the month of April alone, we paid for 124 IDs, totaling $620. We’ve only seen numbers this high once before (126 in a month). That’s about 20–25 above our average and nearly double of what we were doing in 2022.

Behind every number is a person... someone gaining access, opportunity, and one less barrier standing in their way. Sometimes impact is measured not just in dollars, but in doors being opened.

Grateful to be part of work that helps people move forward. ❤️

Looking for ways to donate? You can help our guests by donating a pack of snacks through our Amazon Wish List.
👉https://amzn.to/3L2ZnT3

The Southern Legal Center for Youth is holding a special Legal Name Change Clinic and Passport Clinic to celebrate Pride Month. The clinic is open to all trans or gender-expansive young adults who live in Georgia ages 18-26.

The clinic will take place on June 26, from 1pm - 5pm at a law firm a few minutes walk from Arts Center MARTA Station.
We will help young people:

Interested individuals must complete the registration form (https://form.jotform.com/250398045832157) by June 19. After registering, they will receive a confirmation email and further instructions.

Please Ask the Governor to Veto HB 295

This coming Tuesday, May 12th, is the last day for the Governor to sign or veto bills that passed through the legislature this year. If he takes no action, the bill will also become law.

Before Tuesday, please call or email the governor’s office and ask him to veto HB 295, a bill that is likely to increase the criminalization of the unhoused community. You can call (404) 656-1776 or email using this form Constituent Services | Georgia.gov (https://georgia.gov/contact-georgiagov) (select legislation as the purpose of the request).

Below is more information about HB 295 and wording that can be used in your message. Thank you for joining with us in this advocacy for our community!

HB 295 (https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69969) would allow property owners to make claims for compensation from the local government if they can prove their property depreciated in value or that they incurred expenses due to that government’s failure to enforce laws criminalizing acts of survival, such as public camping, panhandling, loitering, and public urination.

By incentivizing enforcement of these laws, this bill places increased pressure on cities to rely on arrests and displacement of people experiencing homelessness rather than on community-based outreach, services, and diversion strategies.

Further, we already have a law prohibiting local governments from adopting a written policy against the enforcement of laws against homeless people - OCGA §36-60-31, which says in part: “A county or municipal corporation shall not adopt or enforce any written policy under which the county or municipal corporation prohibits the enforcement of any order or ordinance prohibiting unauthorized public camping, sleeping, or obstruction of sidewalks.”

Check out our latest blog by MiKayla Wilson, our Georgia State intern!
https://centraloac.org/blog-2/
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