Homelessness Law Blog

On Thursday, as President Obama delivers her eulogy, we will say goodbye to the godmother of the civil rights movement. But for me, it’s not a goodbye, because I will carry her in my spirit.

Dr. Height embodies the true definition of servant leadership. Her passion and determination was exemplified by her lifelong commitment to fighting for racial equality and women’s rights. Dr. Height faced critics, adversaries, and obstacles during her half-century devotion to equality. As I reflect on the life of Dr. Height, I imagine myself living during the civil rights movement. A time where separate was not equal.  A time where I wouldn’t have had the same educational rights as others. If I had wanted to vote, it would not have been within my rights. Dr. Height saw the effects of economic instability, a lack of education, and other perils on women and their families. Her first priority was people, and she put herself second.

In my own life, I strive towards this spirit of servant leadership. Dr. Height’s leadership reminds me that there is a greater purpose beyond my small world.  She once said, “Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life. It’s important to the person who serves as well as the recipient. It’s the way in which we ourselves grow and develop.” This quote serves as a blueprint for my life.

One of the most valuable lessons in my life was a New Orleans Hurricane Katrina Relief service trip. My small world was opened up in more ways than one as I listened to the tears and struggles of homeless individuals in the Ninth Ward. Seeing the physical upheaval and chaos left in the hurricane’s wake was a turning point in my life. Homes were torn asunder, with the hubris and debris of people’s lives scattered like forgotten confetti after a celebration gone horribly awry.

The spirit of Dr. Height is in my work at the Law Center, as we remain committed to ending homelessness and poverty in America. I wake up every morning knowing that I must serve others like Dr. Height and the civil rights advocates who came before me. She has taught me the importance of the human condition and to work for something bigger than myself.

And for that I say, “Thank you, Dr. Height!”

-Ashley Shuler, Program Assistant/Executive Assistant

Despite reports that the U.S. economy is improving, the foreclosure rate is still rising. So is homelessness.

The latest data from RealtyTrac showed record foreclosures in the first quarter of 2010.  932,234 properties – one in every 138 American housing units – were hit with default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions during the three months ending in March. This is a 16 percent increase from the same time period a year ago.

This month, through our online networks, we’re trying to raise at least $5,000 to support our efforts to prevent homelessness for renters whose homes are being foreclosed.

Please consider donating through the firstgiving widget to the right of your screen or through PayPal.  And know that your donation makes a HUGE difference in the lives of people experiencing poverty & homelessness in America.

Today, friends, is a great day for homeless advocates across the country – with big victories appearing in a number of communities.

In Seattle, a letter submitted to the City Council by the Law Center lead to a mayoral veto of an aggressive panhandling law that would have posed major constitutional  and human rights concerns. This new ordinance would have violated First Amendment rights by restricting free speech without an adequate justification for doing so. Vague language in the ordinance would have also allowed for problems of arbitrary enforcement – increasing the likelihood of criminalizing homelessness. As the letter explained, “Instead of pursuing measures that can lead to civil rights violations and consequent costly and burdensome litigation,  Seattle should dedicate more time and resources to developing jobs at a living wage, promoting affordable housing, ensuring increased access to health care for low-income persons, and other solutions to homelessness.”  In other words, the Law Center is not advocating for panhandling, but for constructive alternatives to laws like this one, which penalize people experiencing homelessness instead of working to improve their situations.

In Florida, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill adding homeless people to the list of people protected by the state’s hate crimes act. The Law Center has long advocated for this kind of action; last year, due to years of advocacy, both Washington, D.C. and Maryland added homeless people as a protected class to their statutes.

And, though this didn’t happen today, we wanted to share it in case you missed this great news: In Maryland, House Bill 1382, Rental Housing Protection for Victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, passed. The law will take effect in October 2010. It prohibits rental discrimination and discriminatory evictions based on one’s status as a survivor of domestic violence, and will allow for early lease termination and lock changes to protect survivors. 

Today we submitted a report on housing rights violations to the UN as part of the Universal Periodic Review process.  Trying to squeeze all of the violations of housing rights into ten short pages was tough, but we came out with a very solid, strategic report that we can use to hold our government accountable to respecting, protecting, and fulfilling the right to housing for all in the U.S.

One of the best parts of producing the report was working with participants from a wide coalition of national and local housing organizations, ranging from DC policy advocates to local Section 8 housing tenants councils, people working on the disparate impact of HIV and homelessness on women, to documentary filmmakers bringing the forced evictions of artists in NYC to life.  In all 14 different organizations contributed to the drafting and an additional 54 organizations endorsed the report.

We launched the report yesterday at an event at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia – emphasizing that our country’s long legacy of protecting human rights is incomplete until those rights are protected for all. I spoke on a panel with a brave woman, Myra Young, one of the Witnesses to Hunger, mothers who are using digital cameras to document their daily experience raising children in Philadelphia on a limited income, fighting against slum lords, poverty, and violence in their communities.  While our report laid out the legal analysis, her pictures were worth a thousand words to show the reality of what needs to change to bring the human right to housing home to the U.S.

Check out the report and Myra and her colleagues’ pictures.

We’ll remind you when it gets closer, but mark your calendars for the webcast of the official review from Geneva on November 5. Let’s work to make sure all those recommendations don’t stay just words on paper, but get brought back here to the Administration, Congress, and state and local representatives so we can make the right to housing real!

-Eric Tars, Human Rights Program Director

For the past two days, I’ve been in Chicago, participating in one of the final government consultations with community groups in preparation for the U.S. review by the UN Human Rights Council under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) (see earlier posts on consultations in DC and NYC).

The government brought a full delegation of representatives from the Departments of State, Justice and Housing & Urban Development, which recognizes the key point that this conversation, even though it’s taking place as part of an international review, is inherently about how domestic policy protects – or fails to protect – human rights.

Speaker after speaker shared stories of one of the most acute failures in recent history: the ongoing housing crisis.  At best, the government turned a blind eye to the consequences of deregulating the housing market so lenders could make huge profits off predatory loans. At worst, the government actively participated in creating segregated communities and destroying affordable housing with no plan to recreate it.

Though many stories were shared, I want to focus in on one that shows the intersection of the housing and justice systems, and where a simple change could make a huge difference.  (more…)

Today marks the official release of our 2009 annual report. We welcome you to take a look at what the National  Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty was able to accomplish with the help of our magnificent donors and partners last year – and you’ll even find a page in the back that explains our priorities for 2010. Check it out here, and feel free to share it with other friends, advocates, and partners.

Oh, and let us know what you think!

In my work on housing rights for domestic violence survivors, I’m regularly aware of the impossibility of addressing the issue of homelessness in a vacuum.  While those of us engaged in legal and policy work at the Law Center tend to focus on specific subject areas, the boundaries of our fields of expertise, as is generally the case in poverty law, are increasingly porous.  For low-income women who have experienced domestic violence, homelessness is often the end of a long road paved with barriers to stability and self-sufficiency.  Only when these obstacles disappear will a path to safe and secure housing emerge for them.

One particularly shameful impediment to economic security for DV survivors has recently come to light during the national debate on health care reform.  As it turns out, DC has the dubious distinction of remaining among the handful of states that permit insurance companies to regard a history of domestic violence as a pre-existing condition for purposes of denying coverage .  As outrageous as this fact might seem in isolation, it is particularly disturbing when viewed in tandem with such additional barriers to stability as housing and employment discrimination.

Women who disclose their status as survivors already face a range of repercussions: loss of income, hostility from landlords wary of noise and property damage, and inaccessibility of safe and affordable housing.  Until federal health care reform is fully implemented in 2014, they may have one more reason to fear the consequences of seeking the help they need.  Fortunately, members of the DC Council have recently sought to remedy this injustice by proposing legislation to ban local insurers from denying coverage due to domestic violence history.  The Law Center enthusiastically supports this step towards greater economic security for survivors.

-Rachel Natelson, Domestic Violence Attorney

Wins and losses? It’s about way more than that.

We’ve just had two big wins for homeless children.

We won a great settlement in our lawsuit against a suburban Pittsburgh school district and the state of Pennsylvania, working in partnership with Education Law Center, a Pennsylvania group. The school district had tried to remove the children from school, claiming that they did not live in the district because they slept overnight in a different school district than the one they received services from during the day. Under our settlement, the state issued new guidelines making clear that homeless children with any substantial connection to a school district are legally entitled to immediate enrollment.

In a second Pennsylvania victory, again working with the Education Law Center, we won a preliminary injunction from a federal district court ordering a suburban school outside of Harrisburg to re-enroll a homeless youth.

But we also had a big disappointment in a federal court suit we filed in St. Petersburg, Florida, together with Southern Legal Counsel, challenging that city’s efforts to criminalize its homeless residents. We voluntarily dismissed two claims in our case following a prior unfavorable ruling by the judge. While we’re still considering an appeal on the claims previously dismissed, we’re obviously disappointed.

Still, it’s not just about the legal battles. (more…)