Let’s tweet at NYC mayoral candidates De Blasio and Lhota about homelessness until they’re forced to bring it up in their next two debates!
That’s the idea of the coalition United to End Homelessness, which will hold two Twitter rallies in October! Titled “Home in on Homelessness,” these rallies will urge NYC’s mayoral candidates and debate moderators to address the issue of homelessness for the remainder of this election season. THE rallies will be held on Monday, October 21 and Monday, October 28. Both rallies will take place one day prior to televised debates between Bill de Blasio, Joe Lhota and Adolfo Carrión, Jr. They’ll be tweeting all day via this Twitter handle, @UEHNYC.
The goal is to generate enough buzz online to spark a discussion on homelessness during one or both debates. More than 60 organizations and individuals participated in UEH’s last Twitter rally in July, and the coalition is confident it can both beat that number and persuade candidates and moderators to address homelessness in the debates in October.
Below, you’ll find instructions and sample tweets that you can use to participate in the rally. On Twitter, tweet using the hashtag #TalkHomelessness. We hope you’ll also post similar status updates on Facebook and share this graphic to promote the rally.
Below, you’ll find an array of sample tweets to use during “Home in on Homelessness.” Housing Works suggests this tweet:
Do you support capping the rents at 30% for homeless New Yorkers living with HIV?
That comes in at under 140 characters!
Tweets are designed to interact with the candidates, the debate moderators, and general Twitter users.
To use them, simply replace the words “@CANDIDATE” or “@MODERATOR” with a candidate or moderator’s actual Twitter handle.
You’ll find a list of all relevant Twitter handles below. Feel free to create your own tweets if you wish!
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Sample Tweets for Candidates:
How will you end homelessness in NYC? @CANDIDATE, tell us at tomorrow’s debate!
The word “homeless” has scarcely been said at any of the debates this year. @CANDIDATE, will you change that tomorrow? #TalkHomelessness
57000 NYers remain homeless, including 22000 kids. @CANDIDATE, tell us at the tomorrow’s debate how you’d lower those numbers #TalkHomelessness
Every crisis needs a plan. @CANDIDATE, we hope you share your plan on how to #EndHomelessness at tomorrow’s debate. #TalkHomelessness
Homelessness hasn’t been this high in decades. CANDIDATE, tell us how you’d tackle this issue at tomorrow’s debate. #TalkHomelessness
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Sample Tweets for Moderators:
57,000 people are homeless tonight. MODERATOR, they deserve a question at tomorrow’s debate. #TalkHomelessness
Moderators have asked ZERO questions about homelessness at NYC’s mayor debates. @MODERATOR, will you ask one tomorrow? #TalkHomelessness
Debate moderators have ignored homelessness all year long. @MODERATOR, please address the homelessness crisis tomorrow. #TalkHomelessness
22,000 kids are homeless tonight. @MODERATOR, we urge you to ask the candidates how they’d lower that number as mayor. #TalkHomelessness
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General Tweets about Homelessness:
Runaway youth, domestic violence survivors, homeless vets — our next mayor must help the most vulnerable among us. #TalkHomelessness
Next mayor needs a roadmap to end homelessness. @UEHNYC has created just that. Please read & share. #TalkHomelessness http://endhomelessnessnyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/A-Roadmap-to-End-Homelessness.pdf
NYC has enough homeless people to fill MSG, Barclays, Radio City, Carnegie & Met Opera EVERY NIGHT. We can do better. #TalkHomelessness
Candidate Twitter Handles:
* Bill de Blasio:deBlasioNYC
* Joe Lhota: JoeLhota4Mayor
* Adolfo Carrion, Jr.: @AdolfoCarrion
Moderator Twitter Handles for 10/22 Debate:
* Maurice DuBois: Not on Twitter________________________________
Moderator Twitter Handles for 10/29 Debate:
MelissaRusso4NY
* David Ushery: DavidUshery4NY
