Homeless people in Iowa City, Iowa will once again have a bench to lie down on thanks to a move by city officials. The Iowa City Council has decided to spend over $10,000 on new public benches that don’t have center armrests to replace 14 of the 70 benches in a downtown pedestrian mall that currently have center armrests.
The Iowa City Catholic Worker House provides shelter and feeds the homeless in the community and has been advocating to get rid of the center armrests because the group says they prevent people from lying down across the benches. Now they’re closer to their goal of creating “a public space that is welcoming to all.”
“These were big victories. It’s proof again that community organizing works,” says David Goodner, an organizer with the Catholic Worker House. “When people stand up and speak out for what’s right as a community organization with a strategy we can move the needle.”
Source: AP News