Our Priorities
POOCH is dedicated to providing cooperative housing and educational experiences in the Lawrence, KS area so our members:
• participate in democratic self-governance
• pursue and uphold anti-oppressive practices
• and build sustainable and egalitarian community
As such, POOCH membership has determined the following priorities should guide our community organizing and advocacy efforts.
• participate in democratic self-governance
• pursue and uphold anti-oppressive practices
• and build sustainable and egalitarian community
As such, POOCH membership has determined the following priorities should guide our community organizing and advocacy efforts.
Renters Together LFKIn 2019, POOCH membership and the board of directors joined in coalition with the Lawrence KS DSA and local renters fed up with unchecked landlord greed to form an organization dedicated to the fight for housing for all in LFK.
POOCH recognizes its leadership role in Lawrence as a provider of affordable housing that rejects the traditional landlord-tenant relationship. We view access to safe housing as a human right and a place for self-discovery, expression, and community building. Check out Renters Together LFK to access a rich database of tenant's rights in Lawrence and learn how to get involved in the fight for just, equitable housing in our hometown. |
Food Justice in KansasPOOCH believes access to healthy food is a human right. In Kansas, 375,360 (13%) of people do not know where their next meal is coming from on a given day. This includes nearly 1/5 children in our state.
This is not because "America's Breadbasket" does not have enough to go around. It is a political condition created by structures put in place to oppress the poor, particularly those already most marginalized by cis-hetero white supremacy and ableism. POOCH membership supports the work of Lawrence Food Not Bombs. Additionally, we intend to join the efforts of statewide organizations dedicated to eradicating this false scarcity through the dismantling of systemic barriers to food access. |
Boycott, Divest, SanctionIn line with our cooperative mission to practice anti-oppressive policies and build egalitarian communities, POOCH stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people, the fight for Palestinian liberation, and Palestinian-led Boycott Divest Sanction movement against Israeli apartheid.
Independent human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, and Al-Haq have condemned serious and widespread violations of the human rights of Palestinian people by Israeli forces operating in the West Bank and Gaza. The effort to boycott and divest from companies lending support to Israeli forces in these areas has as its foundation a commitment to international law and the fundamental rights that belong to every human being, |