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More Media Attention

Posted on February 10, 2012
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Check out the most recent Huffington Post article about the homeless crisis in Sacramento.

Read it now.

While the Law Center isn’t cited, this article still provides a great review of the situation in Sacramento and what is currently going on.

Read it here.

On Wednesday, February 8th, the Law Center’s Eric Tars was featured on KCRW, Whic Way L.A.? radio segment to discuss the recent UN letter warning Sacramento of their human rights violations to the homeless population. His segment begins at 23:00, take a listen!

Listen here.

Also check out the most recent Huffington Post article describing California’s homeless crisis. A poignant article about two homeless men who recently died trying to keep warm on a winter’s night and the general lack of shelter across the state.

Read it here.

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Golden voice(s)

Posted on January 7, 2011
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Everyone’s talking about Ted Williams these days. My twitter feed is abuzz with congratulations for him, YouTube is counting hits of his video clips in the millions, and most of the news sites I frequent have something to say about Ted, his voice, his reunion with his mother, his job offers…

And I say congratulations to Ted! I am pleased to see he will no longer have to live on the streets and that others will be able to experience his “golden voice” on the airwaves for what we hope will be a long time to come.

Ted’s is the kind of rags to riches story we all love – and I think we’re especially enamored by it because it emerged from the web 2.0. We still love to believe that the United States is a place where dreams come true, and we point to stories like Ted’s to prove that the American Dream is alive and well.

I have a couple of problems with this. First, while Ted’s is an excellent story, there are millions more people experiencing homelessness that will never garner such media attention. The family sleeping in their car because they lost their home may not ever see the limelight, even if their youngest daughter is a math whiz. We may never find out that the homeless veteran seeking shelter from a cold winter’s night is also a gourmet cook. I do not mean to imply that talking about Ted Williams is a bad thing, simply that talking just about Ted Williams misses the point. Homelessness is a national human rights crisis, and not everyone who sleeps on the sidewalk tonight will get the help they need quickly enough. Some of them will die of hypothermia. We should be talking about that.

Secondly, I am disturbed by the implication that it is “news” that people experiencing homelessness might, in fact, possess talents and skills. My mother taught me, and I’m betting yours did too, that everyone has something to bring to the table. Everyone has some unique gift or talent. The trouble is, we’re not always looking. Rather than seeing Ted Williams as an extraordinary phenomenon, I’d prefer we saw him as a reminder that all people have value.

May the story of Ted Williams be one that inspires the nation to believe that anything is possible. And may our “anything” mean ending homelessness for all, not just for one very talented man.

-Whitney Gent, Development & Communications Director

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Goodbyes and Lessons Learned

Posted on December 6, 2010
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Each semester, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty is privileged to have a number of outstanding interns who dedicate their time and energy to help end homelessness in America. This semester, we extend a HUGE thank you to interns Sean Goodbody, Jennifer Harrold, and Jamie Shields. Here, Sean reflects on his time at the Law Center:

My experience as a legal intern at the Law Center has become an indispensable part of my legal education.  I go forward into my final semester of law school, and eventually into the legal profession, with a different set of skills, beliefs, and perspectives than I had when I arrived in Washington.

Within days of arriving at the Law Center, I was helping callers in Pennsylvania and Arkansas find homeless shelters and food stamp offices.  I helped advocate for a federal homeless hate crimes statute, and critique the ways the FAFSA affects homeless college students.  I watched throughout the fall as government agencies published data on the foreclosure crisis, the alarming poverty rate, and decreased food stability.  I also learned about the creative solutions legal advocates around the country use to support their homeless clients.

The severity of the economic downturn cannot be denied, nor can how much work must be done to alleviate the hardships of homeless people, and to one day eradicate homelessness altogether.  But I watched all semester as the lawyers at the Law Center remained steadfast and committed to the cause.  My experience here confirmed that advocating for and representing low-income clients is the work that resonates with me.

This is the type of work I want to do as a lawyer.  I am going directly back to my community to work as a law student with the East Bay Community Law Center in Berkeley, CA to provide legal services for walk-ins who cannot afford an attorney.  I then hope to become a legal aid attorney upon graduation, and to bring the same committed attitude and enthusiasm to my advocacy as I have seen from the lawyers here.

***

The Law Center is also very grateful for the contributions this fall of Peter Wang, deferred associate from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP.

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Sister Mary Ann Luby: In Memoriam

Posted on December 1, 2010
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All of us at the Law Center were shocked and saddened to learn yesterday that Sister Mary Ann Luby had died suddenly, less than two weeks after receiving a cancer diagnosis.

The suddenness was not the only reason for our shock.  Sister Mary Ann, outreach worker at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, was such an energetic, passionate and persistent advocate that it is almost impossible to imagine her gone. Here in our home community of Washington, D.C., her advocacy has been a major force for change over the past 27 years. Its influence has been felt not only locally, but nationally as well.

I first met Sister Mary soon after my arrival in Washington in late 1985. She was then running Rachel Women’s Center, and she was one of a very small group of social service providers to whom I could turn to connect national advocacy to the real world facts and experiences of homelessness.  I got to know her better when she was at the Legal Clinic, and our work began to intersect more closely.

As a key organizer at the Legal Clinic, Mary Ann regularly mobilized all manner of advocacy aimed at increasing resources and rights for homeless people in the city. I will always remember receiving her emails and calls, urging me to go to a rally or turn out people for a march, to write to the city council, to make the case for the city’s homeless folks to the federal government. She was always prodding, sometimes scolding me to do more—and she was effective. I could rarely say no to her. Read more »

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HUD Secretary Donovan to Speak Tomorrow Night

Posted on October 13, 2010
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With the McKinney-Vento Awards coming up tomorrow night, this is the final post in a series on our honorees and distinguished guests.

Shaun Donovan became the 15th United States Secretary for Housing and Urban Development on January 26, 2009. Believing that homes are the foundation for safe neighborhoods, successful schools, strong families and solid businesses, Donovan has dedicated his career to ensuring access to affordable, quality housing for all Americans.

As the HUD secretary, Donovan chairs the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness which, in June, released Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.

Donovan has served as commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). He also implemented HPD’s New Housing Marketplace Plan, the largest municipal affordable housing plan in this nation’s history, which planned to build and preserve 165,000 affordable homes. His work at HPD also included involvement with the New York City Acquisition Fund, an award-winning collaboration with banks and organizations to finance affordable housing, an innovative zoning program, a supportive housing plan, and creation of the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, an early response to the foreclosure crisis.

Prior to his service as commissioner of HPD, Donovan worked on financing affordable housing in the private sector and was a visiting scholar at New York University researching the preservation of federally-assisted housing. Donovan also worked as a consultant to the Millennial Housing Commission, strategizing ways to increase the production of multifamily housing. Created by the United States Congress, the commission sought to discover ways to expand housing opportunities nationally.

Donovan returns to HUD, where he previously served during the Clinton administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing. During that time he administered housing programs that helped 1.7 million families gain access to affordable housing. He also served as acting FHA Commissioner during the transition between the Clinton and Bush Administrations.

Prior to this first service at HUD, Donovan worked at the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) in New York City, a non-profit organization dedicated to lending and development for affordable housing. Donovan has also written on housing policy at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, as well as worked as an architect.

We hope you’ll join us when Secretary Donovan delivers his address on “Ending Homelessness in Our Time” at our 12th Annual McKinney-Vento Awards tomorrow, October 14, which begins at 6 p.m.  Barbara Ehrenreich, Dechert LLP, the Education Law Center of Pennsylvania, and the formerly homeless Elzer family will be honored at the event.

Click here for more information. Contact Whitney Gent for more information.

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The Path to Advocacy

Posted on October 7, 2010
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In the run-up to next Thursday’s McKinney-Vento Awards, we’ll be featuring a series of posts on our honorees and distinguished guests.  Make sure you keep checking back!

When you’re young, you have a pretty good idea of where you want to go, even if you don’t know how to get there.  But the path ahead is full of bends and switchbacks, and sometimes it’s for the better.

Barbara Ehrenreich studied chemistry, biology, and physics at Reed College, earning a PhD in cell biology in 1968.  But pursuing a scientific career didn’t quite feel right.  Barbara’s makeup had been permanently altered by her participation in the anti-Vietnam movement, and as a result, she ultimately became a social activist.

Writing wasn’t something she studied, or something she imagined doing when she was younger.  But it was a natural component of her activism, and she grew to love doing it.  Through the years, Barbara’s work has been published in Time Magazine, the New York Times, The Progressive, Mother Jones, and The Atlantic Monthly, among many others.

In 2001, Barbara published Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, which measured the traditional view that “a job will defeat poverty” against the realities she encountered during two years of investigative reporting.  From Florida to Maine to Minnesota, she took low-paying jobs as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson.  What she found was good people doing hard work – usually at more than one job, just to avoid living on the street.

The economic crisis has only worsened things, as more and more poor people slide into homelessness.  Barbara’s 2009 op-ed – titled “Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor?” – drew attention to the disturbing trend of criminalizing homelessness.  Cities are making life-sustaining acts like eating or sleeping illegal.  In the op-ed, Barbara tells the story of a man charged with criminal trespassing for sleeping on a sidewalk.  When he didn’t show up for his court date, he was dragged out of the shelter where he was staying and put in jail.

Barbara’s ability to put a human face on social realities has helped establish her as one of the nation’s most powerful voices on poverty issues.  It’s a long way from cell biology, but the American dialogue is richer for it.

We hope you’ll join us when we honor Barbara at our 12th Annual McKinney-Vento Awards on Thursday, October 14, at 6 pm.  Dechert LLP, the Education Law Center of Pennsylvania, and the formerly homeless Elzer family will also be honored.  The evening’s keynote address will be delivered by U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan.

Click here for more information and to purchase your tickets.

-Andy Beres, Grant Writer & Communications Assistant

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String of Small Moments

Posted on September 10, 2010
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Each day, as my computer shakes to life, I’m conscious that the work my colleagues do is vitally important.  But the enormity of homelessness and poverty can weigh on a person, and numb them to the good days.  I wonder when the day will come when homelessness is removed from the American picture, finding life only in personal and academic histories.

I remind myself, though, that history is but a string of small moments, bound by the fibers of perspective.

Each year, at our annual McKinney-Vento Awards, the Law Center pays tribute to those moments and to the people responsible for them.  This year, on October 14, at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C., we’re proud to welcome U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan as the keynote speaker at this evening dedicated to those working diligently to end homelessness.

That night, we’ll be proud to honor New York Times best-selling author Barbara Ehrenreich, whose work has demonstrated a deep commitment to raising awareness and promoting understanding about poverty and homelessness in the U.S. We’re also excited to honor Dechert LLP, a firm which has displayed an exemplary commitment to pro bono legal work. Read more »

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Intern Reflections

Posted on August 17, 2010
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In late April, I  accepted a development & communications summer internship at the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. While I found the prospect of working in Washington D.C. very exciting, I was not sure what to expect. I was looking for experience with an advocacy or non-profit organization, so the Law Center seemed like a great fit for me. I had devoted the past year of college extra-curriculars to a club that focused on global inequalities. We had hosted a modest forum on homelessness in Alachua County, Florida, where I am a resident.

I anticipated that my internship would expose me to non-profit business practices and office skills. I am happy to say that my knowledge in these areas were most certainly improved. However, I gained so much more than simple filing skills. I gained perspective. I gained the ability to look at a problem, a truly complex problem like homelessness, and think critically about solutions. Homelessness has never affected me personally. I have led an extremely blessed life, and while I have stresses, worrying about the roof over my head has never been one of them. Unfortunately, I believe this has made me blind to issues of homelessness. Read more »

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Who should lead?

Posted on August 10, 2010
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An important aspect of Wall Street reform is the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which will take charge of nearly all federal consumer protection regulation – including regulation of mortgages, student loans, credit cards, and other financial products.  The new Bureau might even be able to help us spread the word about the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA).

Why does the Bureau matter to people concerned about ending homelessness?  Well, what helped kick-start the financial crisis?  The push for universal homeownership, which led to the issuance of risky subprime mortgages.  And once home values plunged, many Americans found themselves held prisoner by crippling consumer debt.  The new Bureau can’t make those debts disappear, but it will be able to write fair rules that help give low income families the chance to stay financially stable, and avoid homelessness.

President Obama is now faced with a decision on who to appoint as the Bureau’s new director.  It should be Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren, who is currently heading up the Congressional Oversight Panel tasked with overseeing implementation of TARP.  In that role, she has been a passionate advocate for helping homeowners avoid foreclosure, unafraid to criticize the actions of an Administration that she supports as too little, too late.  The new Bureau was Warren’s idea, and she worked closely on the legislation with consumer and affordable housing groups.  She knows what PTFA is, and why it’s important.  And finally, she’s got the Jon Stewart seal of approval.

- Jeremy Rosen, Policy Director

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Ending Homelessness Through Pro Bono Work

Posted on July 8, 2010
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On Tuesday afternoon, lawyers from firms across Washington, DC gathered at Sidley Austin LLP for “Ending Homelessness through Pro Bono Work,” hosted by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

The event began with a panel discussion featuring partners from law firms who have contributed significant pro bono resources to the Law Center’s work. Suzanne Turner of Dechert LLP spoke of the firm’s work on issues relating to unaccompanied homeless youth, access to education for homeless children and youth, and the human right to housing. Peter Thomas of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP provided a detailed explanation of the firm’s work on housing provisions of the Violence Against Women Act – noting the tremendous policy impact their work with the Law Center has allowed the firm to see. And Patricia Brannan from Hogan Lovells LLP spoke about how the firms involvement with issues related to the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act and homeless persons’ access to voting have offered the firm’s attorneys opportunities for both personal and professional growth.

It was inspiring and humbling to hear of the firms’ commitment to pro bono work and to hear them, as Ms. Brannan put it, understand these projects as “heart of the mission work.” When attorneys participate in pro bono work at the Law Center, they have the opportunity to both contribute to policy change and produce materials that can “actually be used by constituents out in the community.” And, as Ms. Turner pointed out, the need for pro bono work on these issues is “greater than ever.”

During the reception following the panel, DC Bar President Ronald S. Flagg delivered a touching keynote address on the importance of the Law Center’s work and pro bono attorney involvement in the battle to end homelessness. Flagg is a true believer in the power of attorneys to effect large-scale change, and his own pro bono work is a testament to that belief. We are tremendously grateful to Mr. Flagg, and to all of our panelists, for sharing their pro bono experiences.

Last year, through the support of major law firms, the work of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty was amplified by more than $2 million worth of pro bono support, and by the financial support of its LEAP firms. This donation of time and resources helped create key policy changes and reinforced the existing laws designed to prevent and end homelessness.

To all of our supporting firms, we say a HUGE thank you. Your work is changing lives.

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