All Articles Tagged "Carrasquillo"

Protesters Occupy Home of Single Father and Give it to Homeless Family

January 16th, 2012 - By Brande Victorian
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The Occupy Wall Street protestors seem to be a little confused about just who the 99% are. Members of the movement occupied a vacant Brooklyn home they assumed was foreclosed on by the bank and offered it to a homeless family in December, but when the rightful owner of the home, Wise Ahadzi, explained that he has been renting a home in a nearby neighborhood while he works to pay off the mortgage on the home, the protestors had no sympathy.

“Occupy Wall Street, along with local neighbors and community groups, has pledged to stay with the family and defend them from eviction,” protestors wrote on their website, occupyourhomes.org.

When Wise asked why the protestors wouldn’t fight for him—a victim of the foreclosure crisis himself who lost his job in 2009 and has been struggling to keep up with mortgage payments on the $455,000 home he purchased in 2007, he was told he doesn’t qualify for their help because he isn’t part of “an organization” or homeless.

So who does qualify? Alfredo Carrasquillo, 27, a husband and father of two who was given Wise’s home. The criminal justice organizer works for a New York grassroots organization called the Voices of Community Activists and Leaders that collaborates with the occupy movement to find affordable housing. Since the group occupied the home on December 6, they have made a number of renovations which includes knocking down walls and moving Wise’s furniture around in preparation for the Carrasquillo family to move in. But six weeks later, the family is reported to only occasionally stay at the home, and the occupiers have since told Wise they have no plans to purchase the home from him.

‘I’m trying to get my house back, and they’re trying to take it from me,’ he explained to the NY Post.

Its odd the protestors think they are standing by their motto of “Foreclose on banks not people” by basically stealing a home from a man who is a victim of the housing bubble himself. It looks like they’ve muscled Wise out of his home the exact same way banks do many Americans. Check out the video below of the celebration welcoming the Carrasquillo family to Wise’s home.

Do you support the Occupy Wall Street movement? What do you think about how they’re handling this situation?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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