Driving the homeless people to the polls

    Philadelphia’s Project HOME says homeless people often don’t live near their assigned precinct.

    Volunteers are fanning out across the region to help people get to the polls today–including the homeless.

    Raymond Schofield has been homeless for six years.

    He now lives in a group home in the Frankford section of Philadelphia, but his polling place remains in Chinatown.

    • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

    He says that if volunteers from Project HOME hadn’t driven him to the polls he wouldn’t have voted.

    “I voted for the people I think are going to look out for me. For my situation. Look our for the homeless people so I voted for who I think will help me out in that regards.”

    Project HOME has registered more than 14,000 voters in the past decade. Volunteer Delphina Avin is riding along with voters and walking them into each election site.

    “Earlier, I went to this gentleman’s group home and I got there and the man said, I told them to take my name off the list. And I said, wait a minute, you’re homeless, if you expect change you have to vote. He just looked at me and said I’m going to get my coat!”

    Two to three hundred homeless voters will get transportation through Project Home today. Project HOME says about 4,000 homeless people will cast ballots in Philadelphia.

    People do not need a permanent residence to register to vote in Pennsylvania, just a place where they can receive mail.

    WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

    Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

    Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal