April, 2021  SUBSCRIBE Dear Friends— The National Homelessness Law Center team welcomes our newest member, Antonia Fasanelli, back to the Law Center as our Executive Director. As we embark on this journey, we look forward to growing as an organization and sharing this growth with you. Our growth will include a renewed commitment to become anti-racist.  We use this occasion to reflect on the role of the legal community and of nonprofits – including our own organization – in upholding attributes of white [...]

March, 2021  SUBSCRIBE Dear Friends— This is my last message as Executive Director, as I prepare to step back from that role at the end of the month, almost 32 years after founding the Law Center, and to welcome Antonia Fasanelli as the Law Center's Executive Director. It’s a bittersweet moment as I look back on the extraordinary, high impact work we’ve accomplished—together—over this time. I can’t thank you enough for your support and commitment. Thanks to our amazing team, and your support and advocacy, [...]

February, 2021  SUBSCRIBE Dear Friends— This Black History Month comes at a time when the disproportionate racial impact of homelessness on Black communities is finally getting attention. Black Americans make up 12% of the U.S. population, 26% of the poverty population, and over 40% of the homeless population. Their overrepresentation in poverty and homelessness is the legacy of slavery, the all-encompassing horrors of Jim Crow, intentional discrimination in housing, employment, education, and a criminal legal system that has caused the unjust mass incarceration of far [...]

January, 2021  SUBSCRIBE Dear Friends— Here in the Nation’s Capital, I feel both fear and hope as we enter the new year. The siege on the Capitol brought into sharp relief the racism and hate that drive so many of the challenges we face—as a country and in our work at the Law Center. The failure of police response, especially compared to the overwhelming law enforcement presence at racial justice protests, made crystal clear the bigotry built into debates over “public safety.” And the [...]

October, 2020 SUBSCRIBE Dear Friends— Next month’s elections are critically important, and we have two goals for them: First, to make sure the needs and rights of homeless people are front and center, and second, to ensure that people experiencing homelessness can participate. This election is a pivotal for many reasons. Over the past few years, our advocacy for the human right to housing has been gaining momentum: Last year four presidential candidates explicitly called for it, and one of the current candidates has included [...]

August, 2020  SUBSCRIBE Dear Friends— You may have already seen two pieces of momentous and exciting news about the Law Center. First, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty is becoming the National Homelessness Law Center, effective immediately. And, after 31 years at the helm, I will be stepping down as Executive Director at the end of this year. The name change is easy. We are simplifying and streamlining our name, but our mission remains the same: to use the power of the law [...]