The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC) is a left-progressive, socialist campaign that advocates for economic redistribution and government housing, healthcare, and various other social programs. It organizes homeless and impoverished people for demonstrations and activism. ¹

PPEHRC is a fiscally-sponsored project of Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ), which sponsors a number of left-of-center and radical-left initiatives. ²

Background

Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign was formed in October 1998 at the Poor People’s Summit on Human Rights, a meeting of members and supporters of Philadelphia-based advocacy group Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU). PPEHRC began to contribute to local advocacy efforts and political events with planning, support, technical assistance, and member mobilization. ³

Activities

Throughout the 2000s, Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign organized a number of “March[es] for Our Lives” (not related to the gun control advocacy network of the same name) in the name of anti-poverty advocacy outside of various meetings of the Republican National Conventions. ⁴

In August 2020, on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention, PPEHRC launched its “Poor People’s Army” to “save lives” from the opioid crisis, hunger, and violence. It claims to be waging a war against poverty in the United States and internationally, and lists Africa, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Palestine as places whose children are “counting on” them. It proudly claims it is “not funded by corporations” and does not donate “money or resources to corporate parties like the Democrats.” It invites supporters to sign up to become “soldiers,” a process which involves assenting to its “Principles of Unity,” attending a “bootcamp” to train in the strategies and tactics of organizing, and/or attending one of the group’s monthly local meetings or national conference calls. ⁵

After research suggesting that for every one homeless person in Philadelphia there are 10 unoccupied housing units in the city, PPEHRC developed a program to “take over” properties owned by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), renovate and furnish them, and move homeless families in. As of 2021, the group claimed to have taken over more than 30 houses in the Philadelphia area. ⁶ In 2022, PPEHRC had a petition on its website demanding the Philadelphia City Council and HUD deem housing a human right and asserting that the group was “suing” the federal government for its housing policy. The “action” was designed by Cheri Honkala and the petition collection was facilitated by left-of-center digital tool The Action Network. ⁷

In 2022, PPEHRC began providing and delivering free food to people in Philadelphia through its “mobile food pantry.” ⁸

Funding

Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign encourages supporters to donate, and says that checks can be made out either to itself or to Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ), its fiscal sponsor. AfGJ sponsors a number of left-of-center and radical-left initiatives. ^{9 10}

1. “Who We Are.” Poor People’s Army. Accessed 18 July 2022. https://poorpeoplesarmy.com/#WHOWEARE.
2. “Who We Are.” Poor People’s Army. Accessed 18 July 2022. https://poorpeoplesarmy.com/#WHOWEARE.
3. “Who We Are.” Poor People’s Army. Accessed 18 July 2022. https://poorpeoplesarmy.com/#WHOWEARE.
4.  “Home.” Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, 9 November 2009. Accessed 18 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20091109191619/http://old.economichumanrights.org/index.shtml.
5. “Who We Are.” Poor People’s Army. Accessed 18 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220718162455/https://poorpeoplesarmy.com/.
6. ^[1] “Who We Are.” Poor People’s Army. Accessed 18 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220718162455/https://poorpeoplesarmy.com/.
7. “Who We Are.” Poor People’s Army. Accessed 18 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220718162455/https://poorpeoplesarmy.com/
8. “Who We Are.” Poor People’s Army. Accessed 18 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220718162455/https://poorpeoplesarmy.com/.
9. “Who We Are.” Poor People’s Army. Accessed 18 July 2022. https://poorpeoplesarmy.com/#WHOWEARE
10. “AfGJ’s Fiscally Sponsored Projects.” Alliance for Global Justice. Accessed August 9, 2022. https://afgj.org/sponsored-projects/fiscally-sponsored-projects/fiscally-sponsored-projects