Local homeless rights activists are raising awareness in downtown Dover about a need for more affordable housing.
Spread out on the lawn between Division and State St. in Dover are rows of tents. They’re part of a multi-day demonstration aiming to bring awareness to and end homelessness.
“We want people to know that we want to help the homeless people,” said Pastor Eric Cooper, one of the organizers of the group Support Tiny Homes for the Homeless. “We have some homeless veterans, we have some homeless young people from the age of 18 and up we found in all different sorts of situations and we want to try to get them off of the street as peaceful and as fast as possible.”
The group ultimately wants to build a village of small homes that house one person each, near Victory Church on Route-8, Cooper said.
“Everybody deserves a home and in this time that we live in, a lot of people are talking about whose life actually matters. Well, all lives matter and homeless peoples' lives matter," Cooper said. "So those are the things we’re doing out here today; we just want the community to see that we’re trying to do something and we need all of the support that we can.”
Jasmine Boggs is over nine months pregnant and has been homeless since April, after being kicked out by her sister.
“I think what we’re doing out here through this week, I believe that will change a lot of peoples’ hearts,” Boggs said.
Boggs said she hopes the demonstration will inspire more people to care about and understand homelessness.
The group plans to stay out on the lawn through Saturday.