Poor People United Spins off from Metro Justice
- Aaron Micheau
Poor People United (PPU) joined Metro Justice as a task force in 2003. PPU’s mission of advocating for the human right to shelter for the poor and homeless fit well with Metro Justice’s dedication to economic justice for all. PPU also showed an ability to organize poor people, who were - and remain - underrepresented in Metro Justice’s membership.
Though both organizations remain committed to social justice, both PPU and Metro Justice have expanded and developed their vision in the past four years. Metro Justice’s membership has grown significantly and its infrastructure has struggled to keep pace. Council meetings, once small and personal enough to be held in members’ homes are now held in the office. Council members and staff have worked to develop policies and procedures to manage our increased activity. And the nature of that activity has changed. Staff currently spends most of its time administering to and organizing member-driven campaigns, such as Clean Money Clean Elections and Bus Fareness, leaving less time to support Task Force activities. Finally, recognizing that we were involved in an increasing amount of lobbying, Metro Justice created a 501(c)(4) corporation to lobby, and shifted most of our member-driven activities into that organization and away from the 501(c)(3) charity.
PPU has innovated in its pursuit of economic human rights. It has adopted the Kensington Welfare Rights model of training poor people to advocate for themselves. The Task Force has aggressively sought out grants, and one such grant donated to PPU a bus that it converted into a winter shelter, to broadcast that need to the public. PPU’s members later purchased and rehabilitated a Human Rights House, to provide a more permanent shelter.
These activities require a very active cash flow, which created a challenge because Task Force accounts are held and administered by Metro Justice. Service activities also require different types of insurance than Metro Justice has traditionally carried. Metro Justice and PPU worked together to streamline cash flow and study the operations and infrastructure of organizations that provide shelter to the homeless. However, this tension continued to exist.
As a solution, the PPU and the Metro Justice Council agreed that Metro Justice would assist PPU in creating its own 501(c)(3), allowing it to obtain grants on its own, and maintain its own tax-exempt accounts. The PPU leadership and members of Council have worked for several months with the target of PPU finalizing its incorporation and applying for charity status this month. The independent corporate structure will also be legally able to own the PPU Human Rights House and bus, an advantage that Metro Justice could not provide. Metro Justice will offer assistance in providing administrative services or training to PPU as needed.
PPU and Metro Justice continue to share the same vision, and have committed to working together in the future, with PPU retaining the privileges of a Task Force at least into 2008. Our hope is that the new corporation will provide PPU with the autonomy it needs to further develop and achieve its goals, and that PPU and Metro Justice will continue to partner in seeking social and economic justice for many years to come.