Day one of the eviction defense for Joe Woods' house
Channel: Rochester Indymedia
Date: 2013-10-12

On Thursday, September 26, 2013, the Woods Family, Take Back the Land Rochester, Metro Justice and community supporters protested the heartless policies of mass foreclosure and forced displacement of communities by the banks and foreclosure/eviction of the Woods family at 394 Webster Ave. Thursday was the first day that the City Marshal was allowed to execute the eviction. The Woods family and some community supporters are currently contemplating civil disobedience to prevent the eviction, and they will need a real crowd of supporters if they're to do this!

The Woods family home is where Glenda and Joseph have lived for 23 years and where they raised their kids. They are willing and able to pay, but Midfirst Bank will next not accept their payments. In 2009, Glenda Woods, like many during the economic crisis, became unemployed and the family had a temporary reduction in income. Although the family resolved their financial difficulties, MidFirst Bank wouldn't work with them and foreclosed on the family. MidFirst Bank is just latest company that have bought and sold their mortgage including Columbia Banking, Countrywide, Aurora, and MERS. Although the house is assessed at just $28,000, for MidFirst, their house is just an investment. For the Woods family the house means everything. 

It's time to demand that Rochester be a city where Housing is a Human Right! 

UPDATE: The Woods family and their supporters began an Eviction Blockade of the Woods family home on Webster Ave. on Sept. 26.  What started as a front lawn blockade with Home Defenders chained to the porch and forming a chain around the front yard became an energetic celebration of resistance that spilled into a blockaded Webster Ave. that even the police wouldn't cross. The eviction is still on, but weeks later, Joe Woods is still in defiance of the greedy bank.