May 2019 SUBSCRIBE Dear Friends— Every year, the Law Center’s work benefits from thousands of hours of donated legal services from our pro bono partners. We just got the numbers for 2018, and I’m excited to share that last year alone, volunteers at law firms and corporate legal departments contributed over 7000 hours! Our pro bono partners worked with Law Center lawyers on a wide range of projects, including: A 50-state Index on Youth Homelessness that supports a campaign to reform state laws [...]

April 2019 SUBSCRIBE Dear Friends— Earlier this month, the Law Center and our partners won another big victory in our fight against the criminalization of homelessness. The federal court of appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected an effort to review our earlier outcome in Martin v. Boise, meaning that our landmark victory stands. This victory has the potential to transform local government responses to visible homelessness in cities across the country—if we mobilize to capitalize on it. The court ruling tells cities in [...]

March 2019 SUBSCRIBE Dear Friends— One of the many myths about homelessness is that it primarily affects men. This is simply not true, and March—when we celebrate Women’s History Month—is a good time to set the record straight. The reality is that women are especially vulnerable to homelessness—regardless of how it’s defined. The majority of homeless families are headed by women, and women account for the vast majority of those who become homeless as a result of domestic violence. And as Matthew Desmond [...]

February 2019 SUBSCRIBE Dear Friends— February is Black History Month, but racism is a reality every month, and it permeates every aspect of American society. Homelessness and poverty are no exception. African Americans make up 12.4 percent of the general U.S. population, 23.5% of the total poverty population-and a staggering 42.6 percent of the U.S. homeless population. The disproportionate racial impact of poverty alone does not explain this even greater discrepancy within homelessness. Discriminatory laws, policies, and attitudes—structural racism—drive the disproportionate representation of African [...]