Twenty Years of Advocacy

Last month the Law Center hosted its annual awards dinner, and the occasion also marked our 20th anniversary. It was a wonderful and moving evening, and you can read about it and see photos below. But as I said that night, after 20 years, I have mixed emotions.

Twenty years is a long time to advocate for an end to a crisis. It's a long time for homelessness to be a crisis in our country. One day is too long for anyone to have to be homeless in America today.

I came to Washington when homelessness first began to skyrocket, in the 1980's, determined to use the power of the law to end it. I found little legislation I could use. So, along with a few others, I went to the Hill advocating for what would, in 1987, pass as the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act.

That law, now the McKinney-Vento Act, was the first major federal legislation addressing homelessness. But it was, and is, only a first step. We must build on it for the larger solutions we need to end homelessness in America.

This past year, we won important victories that move us forward. The McKinney-Vento Act was re-authorized and expanded. We won a new federal law that protects renters who face eviction when their landlords are foreclosed. We secured $1.5 billion for homelessness prevention in the federal stimulus package. And we had introduced in Congress a resolution supporting the right to housing for children with their families.

But we have so much more to do. The foreclosure and economic crises are hitting low-income people especially hard, and homelessness is skyrocketing-again. At the same time, with increasing public attention to rising homelessness, we also have a new opportunity to make change.

Advocating for basic social justice and human dignity takes longer than it should, and longer than we would like. But we must also recognize the successes that we have won-so that we can build on them, with hope and determination, for a better future.

National homelessness advocates presented their consensus policy recommendations at an official meeting of the Interagency Council on Homelessness on October 19, focusing on our recommendations for the National Strategic Plan to End Homelessness. The Plan, mandated by the new HEARTH Act, must be completed by May 2010.

This is the first time national advocates have been invited to present at an official Council meeting of the Cabinet Secretaries, and it could be an important step forward. The invitation came after a request the advocates' group made at a joint meeting last month between then-acting Executive Director Pete Dougherty and other top ICH staff members.

Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, which convenes the groups, was invited to present to the Council, along with two other members of the group. The advocates' group jointly developed an agenda for the meeting; the presentation was made on behalf of the whole group by Foscarinis, Steve Berg of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, and Neil Donovan, executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. Four Cabinet Secretaries were present: ICH Chair and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan; HHS Secretary Sebelius; VA Secretary Shinseki; and Labor Secretary Solis. Senior staff from the other agencies were also present. The appointment of Barbara Poppe as Executive Director of the Council was announced at the start of the meeting.

The advocates' presentation focused on three key consensus points. First, the context: Homelessness is now growing dramatically across the country, and national leadership to end and prevent it is more important than ever. A strong Federal Plan, presented at a White House Conference, is crucial.

Second, the Plan should focus on these key issues: Housing, Income, Health Care, Education and Civil Rights. These priority issues follow the "Five Fundamentals" articulated and endorsed by national advocates. Finally, the process for developing the plan must be open and include all key stakeholders, including especially homeless people themselves.

The presentation was well received, and the Secretaries expressed a desire to work with the advocates. To see the PowerPoint slides advocates presented, click here. But to move our agenda forward will take the involvement of everyone who cares about these issues. We'll be reporting on next steps.

NLCHP, together with the Education Law Center filed a lawsuit on October 6th in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania seeking to prevent the disenrollment of four children from Allegheny County's Carlynton School District.

The four children became homeless in April when their father lost his job and the family was evicted from its home. They are currently being served by the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) Shelter of South Hills, which is in the Carlynton School District. The family spends the day at the IHN shelter, stores their belongings, cooks meals, and receives mail there, but spends the night at a rotating series of eight area churches.

Carlynton School District first prevented the students from enrolling, in violation of the federal McKinney-Vento Act, which protects homeless children's right to attend school. Through NLCHP and ELC's intervention, the students were eventually allowed to enroll, but the District appealed to the PA Department of Education to remove the children from school, claiming that the family does not actually live in the District because they do not sleep there. Neither the District nor the Pennsylvania Department of Education - which recently issued an administrative decision in favor of Carlynton School District - has identified any local school that these children are entitled to attend.

The lawsuit seeks the continued enrollment of the children, and guidance from the PA Department of Education making clear the right of children in similar situations to attend school.

On October 5th, NLCHP joined the United States Department of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUD), UN-HABITAT, and a number of other organizations to host events around the annual World Habitat Day. Marking the first time the United States has hosted the event, President Barack Obama joined the celebrations by video cast, and the opening ceremonies included presentations by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, UN Ambassador Susan Rice, Dr. Anna Tibaijuka, the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, and singer Jon Bon Jovi, who spoke about his philanthropic efforts creating affordable housing units for homeless persons in Philadelphia.

The celebration of World Habitat Day spurred a week of affiliated events, including an event co-sponsored by NLCHP and the Huairou Commission, titled Grassroots Women and Affordable Housing. The event was held at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless on Tuesday, October 6th, and gathered together not only local community organizers, but also activists and organizers from around the nation and the globe. The panelists included members of the new DC Right to Housing Campaign, District Alliance for Safe Housing, and American Friends Service Committee, as well as community organizers from St. Louis, The Bronx, Appalachia, Uganda, Jamaica and Peru. The panels, as well as the audience, engaged in important conversations such as women's ownership rights, the role domestic violence plays for women in obtaining and losing housing, and the use of a human rights framework as an organizing tool. Participants shared advice and best practices, discovering commonalities from Uganda to Appalachia.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik, will conduct her first official mission to the United States from October 22nd - November 8th. NLCHP, together with our partner organization the National Economic and Social Right Initiative (NESRI), and will be coordinating the visit, with significant involvement from grassroots groups across country.

Special Rapporteur Rolnik is appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to examine and report back on the housing situation of a given country. Rapporteur Rolnik's visit to the United States will focus on public housing, Section 8, homelessness and the foreclosure crisis. During her United States mission, she will visit Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Washington DC, Pine Ridge, South Dakota and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

The Rapporteur's visit will conclude at NLCHP's National Forum on the Human Right to Housing in Washington D.C. on November 8th and 9th.

On the 8th, the Rapporteur will host a special opening session and hold a national town hall meeting, receiving testimony from individuals and organizations in areas where she will not be able to visit. On the 9th, issues related to housing and homelessness will be addressed by experts from across the country in panels and workshops, including Housing and Human Rights 101, Combating Criminalization Using Human Rights, Preventing Homelessness: Foreclosures and Affordable Rental Housing and Public Housing, Demolitions, and the Human Right to Development.

At the conclusion of her mission, the Special Rapporteur will submit a report of findings to the Human Rights Council. The Human Rights Council will consider this and other reports in its next Universal Periodic Review of the United States.

More information and registration is available at http://nlchp.org/2009Forum.cfm. Please contact Human Rights Program Director Eric Tars at etars@nlchp.org, for further information.

The 2009 McKinney-Vento Awards event on September 24th was a great success. Some 200 supporters and friends gathered to raise funds to support the Law Center's work on behalf of our nation's most vulnerable individuals and families, to honor this year's award recipients, and to mark 20 years of successful advocacy by the Law Center. The evening was filled with powerful words from inspirational advocates for homeless people, who were recognized for their work.

Ted Leonsis and his fellow producers and the director of the film Kicking It were honored by the Law Center with the Stewart B. McKinney Award, for raising public awareness about global homelessness. US Representatives Maxine Waters and Keith Ellison jointly received the Bruce F. Vento award for their successful leadership in Congress for passage of the HEARTH Act and introduction of a resolution calling for a right to housing for children and their families (Rep. Waters) and passage of the Protecting Renters at Foreclsoure Act (Rep. Ellison).

The law firm of WilmerHale received the Pro Bono Counsel award, for their dedication and work in researching a 50-state report of the legal status of renters in foreclsoure that was published by the Law Center and that helped secure passage of the Protecting Tenant at Foreclsoure Act. G.W. Rolle, a homeless advocate in St. Petersburg, Florida, was honored with the Personal Achievement Award for his successful transition out of homelessness, and for continuing to work as a strong advocate for other homeless people.

Click here and scroll down for an article about the event, and view great photos from the evening here. For a list of sponsors, click here.

Karen Cunningham arranges pro bono assistance from private law firms, as NLCHP's Pro Bono Director. She also recruits new members to the organization's Lawyers' Executive Advisory Partners (LEAP) program, which provides NLCHP with significant pro bono legal services.

Prior to joining NLCHP, Karen served as the Director of Legal Services at Women Empowered Against Violence (WEAVE) in Washington, D.C. where she and her staff provided representation to survivors of domestic violence in protection order, family law, and immigration matters, managed a large network or pro bono attorneys and law firms, and advocated for legislative and policy reforms directed toward reducing the incidence and impact of domestic violence both locally and nationally.

Before becoming WEAVE's Director of Legal Services, Ms. Cunningham led WEAVE's interdisciplinary Teen Dating Violence Program, which she founded in 2001 as an Equal Justice Works (formerly NAPIL) Fellow and recipient of The Frederick B. Abramson Public Interest Fellowship Award. She served on the American Bar Association's Teen Dating Violence Prevention Initiative National Advisory Board and is co-author of a chapter on teen dating violence in the ABA handbook, The Impact of Domestic Violence on Your Legal Practice (2nd Ed.).

Ms. Cunningham graduated magnum cum laude from The Georgetown University Law Center. While at Georgetown, she helped secure official recognition by the school of the newly established Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law and co-authored a review of the Violence Against Women Act for the Journal's inaugural issue of its Annual Review of Gender Sexuality and the Law. She received her undergraduate degree with high honors from The University of Michigan, where she first began working with and became inspired by domestic violence survivors she met as a volunteer at the local battered women's shelter.

Jason Small is Policy Director for NLCHP. He is responsible for overseeing the organization's legislative advocacy.

Prior to joining the Law Center, Jason developed experience in both the public and private sector. He graduated from DePauw University with honors, is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and is a 1998 graduate of the Yale Law School. He has worked in the Executive Branch and as a staff member in offices in the House of Representatives.

Jason received a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Fellowship following law school, working on the death penalty, international trade, and equality issues in the office of the Honorable Jesse Jackson, Jr. He also spent time in the USTR Office of African Affairs while a CBCF Fellow. Later, he served as Special Policy Advisor to the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee.

Jason recently spent several years practicing law in his hometown of Decatur, Illinois, representing underserved areas of the community. Among his clients were several nonprofit organizations, including those dedicated to housing the poor and chronically homeless. He chose to continue his work in this area by returning to Washington D.C. to work at a national level on the problems facing the poor and homeless in the United States.

NLCHP is a 501(c)(3) organization. Contact us at (202) 638-2535 or email us at nlchp@nlchp.org

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