Promoting Homeless Bill of Rights in California and Oregon

On Monday, April 1, 2013, the Law Center hosted a webinar by the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) for people and organizations wanting to actively engage in promoting and passing the homeless bill of rights in California and Oregon. Participants received detailed updates on the current status and content of the California and Oregon bills - including recent changes made to the California bill - and joined the conversation on coordinating WRAPs advocacy efforts.

Click here to view the webinar slides.

"Criminalizing Crisis" Webinar (November 29, 2011)

This webinar covered topics explored in Criminalizing Crisis, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty's report on the criminalization of homelessness and constructive alternatives to such policies.

It included highlights of key statistical data on criminalization, constructive alternatives progressive cities are using to address homelessness, the important role the federal government has in combating criminalization, and strategies advocates can use to oppose these policies at the local level.

Webinar presenters included:

• Heather Johnson, Civil Rights Attorney at the Law Center. View her slides.
• Jake Maguire, Communications Director at Community Solutions.  View his slides.
• Bob Offer-Westort, Civil Rights Organizer at the Coalition on Homelessness (San Francisco).

A Place at the Table Webinar (December 16, 2010)

On Thursday, December 16, at 2:00 p.m. EDT, the National  Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless hosted a webinar to discuss topics explored in "A Place at the Table: Prohibitions on Sharing Food with People Experiencing Homelessness." The report focuses on cities that have created ordinances, policies, and tactics to limit groups from sharing food with homeless people, and highlights alternatives to those restrictions. The goal of the webinar is to provide local advocates with practical tips, advice, and support to work collaboratively with the city government to address food sharing concerns.

Webinar presenters included: 

• Tulin Ozdeger, Civil Rights Program Director at the National Law center on Homelessness & Poverty
• Michael Stoops, Director of Community Organizing at the National Coalitiion for the Homeless
• Sarah Owens, Chief Executive Officer of Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc.
• Ellen Vollinger, Food Stamp/Legal Director at the Food Resource Action Center

Access the Audio and Slide Presentation Here.

A Place at the Table Webinar (July 29, 2010)

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless hosted a webinar on July 29, 2010 to discuss topics explored in the recently released report, A Place at the Table: Prohibitions on Food Sharing with Homeless People.

Access the Audio and Slide Presentation Here.

Webinar presenters included:

• Sarah Shubitowski from the Law Center and Donna Leuchten from NCH, co-authors of A Place at the Table. View their Slides.
• Sarah Owens, Chief Executive Officer of Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc., a group which advocated against city legislation that would have criminalized food sharing in Ft. Myers, FL.
• Jonathan Lee, founder of Swipes for the Homeless, a program that donates unused university student meals to homeless people. View his Slides.

The goal of the webinar was to provide local advocates with practical tips, advice, and support to work collaboratively with the city government to address food sharing concerns. Additionally, it gave participants a closer look at an innovative and replicable program that engages students in addressing hunger in their community

Combating Criminalization Webinar (November 16, 2009)

NLCHP hosted a webinar on November 16, 2009 to discuss policy and legal problems with criminalization measures, ways homeless persons and advocates have combated such measures, and constructive alternatives to criminalization.  

• Access the Audio Recording
• PowerPoint presentations-
• Elisa Della-Piana, East Bay Community Law Center Neighborhood Justice Clinic Director, discussed Kincaid v. City of Fresno, a case in which she and other lawyers challenged ongoing sweeps of homeless encampments.  She also discussed her work defending homeless individuals for "quality of life" violations.  View her slides.
• Tulin Ozdeger, NLCHP Civil Rights Director, and Michael Stoops, National Coalition for the Homeless Director of Community Organizing, provided an overview of the policy and legal problems with criminalization, as well as examples of more constructive approaches from different parts of the country.  View their slides. 
• Brian Davis, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director, discussed how Cleveland approached the issue of public food sharing in a more constructive way than turning to the criminal justice system.  View his slides.