October 7 - Housing Now!

Labor History in 2:00 · Oct 7, 2026 · 1m

On this day in Labor History the year was 1989.

That was the day thousands of people marched on Washington to protest against homelessness.

They gathered to protest against massive cuts in federal housing funding.

President Reagan had cut the budget of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in half.

The protesters hoped President George H. W. Bush would change this course.

They called their protest, “Housing Now!".

Estimates of the crowd ranged from 40,000 to more than 200,000.

The New York Times described those who participated writing, “They came from far away as Miami and Beverly…