Durham Beyond Policing and the Have a Heart coalition have been leading the fight for an expanded, fully-funded Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Team (HEART) in Durham’s city budget this year. Before the city’s public budget hearing this month, the campaign rallied to urge council members to make this vision a reality.
Emancipate’s Kerwin Pittman joined the rally to speak as a member of a community that could look to Durham’s example as a model for how to move away from reliance on police:
“I could have been and still could be a recipient of the HEART program. I have family members right now who could be recipients of the HEART program. But the only difference is we don’t have the HEART program in my city. And as someone who organized across the state from one end to the other, I don’t see nothing like this. So when I heard about the HEART program, I was in awe. … This is “Who keep us safe? We keep us safe!” personified, for real. … I pray that this program is fully funded, fully rolled out not only in Durham, North Carolina but Durham, North Carolina could be a beacon of light and hope for the rest of our state.“
Durham residents, have you signed the petition to support HEART yet? If not, do so here →