Timeline of WLCH and Homelessness in DC

▪November 1984 - DC voters overwhelmingly support Initiative 17,establishing a "right to shelter" in the District, the first statutory right to shelter in the nation

▪Summer 1985 - DC attorney David Crosland convenes the Ad Hoc Committee for the Homeless under the auspices of the DC Bar

▪December 1985 - First recruitment session for volunteer lawyers, held at the DC Bar.

▪1986 - Pro Bono lawyers begin to serve four pilot intake sites, supported by volunteers Gloria Flanagan and Faye Williams

▪Summer 1986 - DC Bar Foundation makes first grant to support the pilot project of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Homeless. The DC Bar, through both Bar leadership (Judge Paul L. Friedman was then-President of the DC Bar) as well as its Office of Public Service Activities (now the DC Bar Pro Bono Program), lends its full support to the project

▪Fall 1986 -The project hires first staff person, Susie Sinclair-Smith, as coordinator

▪May 1987 - The pilot project becomes the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, an independently incorporated non-profit organization. Mental Health Law Project (now the Bazelon Center) served as fiscal sponsor until tax-exempt status was granted

▪1987 - DC Bar wins the Harrison Tweed Award for its role in launching WLCH

▪Fall 1987 - GULC students, led by Jeff Schwaber, hatch the idea to hold a basketball game pitting Members of Congress against Georgetown Law Faculty to raise money for a homeless charity

▪1987 - Legal Clinic moves from DC Bar PSA's office to space donated by Pettit & Martin

▪1987 - DC council passes law requiring that homeless families be sheltered in an apartment-style setting rather than in run-down motels (the "Crawford Legislation")

▪March 1988 - First Home Court game raises $42,000 for WLCH

▪1989 - Judge Harriet Taylor finds DC shelters to be "horrendous" and "virtual hell-holes" in Atchison vs. Barry, brought by Howrey & Simon

▪1990 - Shea & Gardner "adopts" the Legal Clinic from Pettit & Martin and provides office space to the growing program

▪June 1990 - Then-Mayor Marion Barry signs law repealing the District's Right to Shelter

▪July 1990 - Anti-homelessness activist Mitch Snyder dies

▪October 1990 - Judge Richard Levie finds the District's family shelter system out of compliance with DC law in Fountain vs. Barry, brought by O'Melveny & Myers

▪November 1990 - Advocates' attempt to reverse the repeal of the District's Right to Shelter fails when Referendum 005 lost by a 51% - 49% vote in the general election

▪December 1990 - Franklin vs. Barry is filed by Crowell & Moring, challenging the District's failure to process emergency food stamps in compliance with the law

▪1992 - WLCH joins with Hogan & Hartson in filing Little vs. Barry, challenging the District's scaling back of the General Public Assistance Program, which provided cash support to individuals with disabilities

▪April 1993 - WLCH receives a Commendation from President Clinton in his Volunteer Action Awards Program

▪1993 - WLCH vs. Kelly is filed by Howrey & Simon, challenging illegalities in the District's family shelter intake system and seeking to protect counsel's right of access to their clients

▪1993 - WLCH joins with Covington & Burling to file Pearson vs. Kelly, challenging the unlawful operation of the District's public housing program.

▪1993 - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announces the "DC Initiative," a partnership with the District government and local non-profit organizations to pilot the development of a "Continuum of Care" shelter system

▪November 1993 - WLCH issues "Cold, Harsh and Unending Resistance: The District of Columbia Government's Hidden War Against its Poor and its Homeless," which chronicles the utter breakdown of government services and programs for low income DC residents.

▪November 1993 - Yetta Adams dies homeless in a bus shelter in front of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development

▪1994 - Judge Steffan Graae orders the DC public housing program placed into receivership (Pearson); the District appeals

▪Summer 1994 - The Legal Clinic co-convenes advocates and service providers who unite to challenge unfair budget cuts in the wake of the District financial crisis. This effort becomes the Fair Budget Coalition

▪August 1994 - The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness issues its Operational Plan for Year 1 of the DC Initiative

▪Late 1994 - The Legal Clinic testifies before Congress regarding the impact of DC's financial crisis on residents of DC who are homeless

▪1994 - WLCH helps to establish Campaign for New Community, a multi-faceted advocacy effort to break down the barriers created by neighborhood opposition to the siting of programs for people who are poor, homeless or disabled

▪1995 - Legal Clinic expands to include an outreach component and intensifies efforts to provide assistance during hypothermic conditions

▪1995 - Financial Control Board appointed to take over management of the District

▪1995 - Fair Budget Coalition and other community groups seek to have "Declaration of Emergency" in the District because of the shredded social safety net and palpable suffering of DC's low income residents

▪Spring 1995 - David Gilmore becomes receiver of the DC Housing Authority (Pearson)

▪1996 - District repeals local Emergency Assistance and General Public Assistance programs

▪Fall 1996 - The Legal Clinic expands our work with homeless families

▪December 1996 - Mental Health department placed into receivership

▪1997 - Legal Clinic convenes the Welfare Advocates Group to participate in, and monitor, welfare reform efforts in the District

▪1998 - District abolishes the Tenant Assistance Program, a locally-funded rent subsidy program serving low-income DC residents

▪1998 - DC Initiative ends; WLCH continues to push for reforms concerning the management of homeless services

▪1998 - WLCH begins training of Metropolitan Police recruits on issue of homelessness

▪1999 - WLCH and Fair Budget Coalition sponsor Campaign for a Just and Inclusive Community, whose Creed of Justice and Inclusion was adopted by 300+ community organizations and District residents

▪1999 - WLCH joins with Akin Gump to file Hackett vs. JMC Associates on behalf of more than 200 mental health consumers whose benefits had been stolen by a Department of Mental Health contractor

▪March 2000 - WLCH convenes advocates to challenge District's proposed condemnations of Columbia Heights apartment buildings housing low-income immigrants

▪June 2000 - Mayor Williams establishes Homeless Advisory Group

▪2000 - DC Housing Authority comes out of receivership

▪2000 - Legal Clinic launches a Welfare Hotline to provide assistance to recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

▪October 2000 - WLCH begins to publish and distribute "Listen Up," a monthly newsletter for our client community

▪December 2000 - Mayor Williams abandons Homeless Advisory Group and establishes Continuum of Care Work Group

▪December 23, 2000 - Jesus Blanco dies homeless on the street, just steps away from La Casa Shelter

▪Fall 2002 - Legal Clinic establishes Affordable Housing Initiative to intensify efforts to preserve and expand affordable housing for the lowest income District residents

▪January 2003 - Mayor Williams abandons Continuum of Care Work Group and establishes a Focus Group on Access to Housing for Homeless and Very Low Income City Residents

▪2003 - Legal Clinic, along with So Others Might Eat, successfully co-leads community advocacy to establish the Interim Disability Assistance Program

▪2003 - Housing Production Trust Fund becomes vital tool for development of affordable housing for low-income DC residents

▪Fall 2003 - Legal Clinic expands advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities who seek access to shelter and housing

▪November 2003 - The Public Welfare Foundation provides a new home to the Legal Clinic, inviting us into their True Reformer Building in the Shaw neighborhood of DC

▪Spring 2004 - District government closes Gales Shelter; begins trend of siting shelters in remote locations towards the fringes of the city

▪Late 2004 - Agreement reached in Hackett vs. JMC Associates to compensate mental health consumers for theft of funds

▪December 2004 - DC Court of Appeals establishes the DC Access to Justice Commission to aid in breaking down the barriers that prevent low-income and isolated communities from accessing civil legal assistance

▪January 2005 - Mayor Williams issues "Homeless No More," his administration's 10 year plan to end homelessness

▪July 2005 - Mayor Williams signs into law the Homeless Services Reform Act, which revamps the legislative framework of the District's homeless shelter and services system, establishing an Interagency Council on Homelessness and setting out client rights and responsibilities as well as provider standards

▪September 2005 - Legal Clinic joins with DC Bar Pro Bono Program and Hogan & Hartson to coordinate the Katrina Relief Clinic, to provide legal services to people who relocated to the District from the devastated Gulf Coast

▪Fall 2005 - Legal Clinic expands efforts to assist homeless children and youth; supports homeless parents' advocacy efforts as they form SASS (Self-Advocacy, Support and Solutions)

▪October 2005 - Then-Councilmember Fenty holds unprecedented hearing at DC Village family shelter to get feedback from residents on the quality of services and supports

▪Winter 2005 - District government closes Randall Shelter

▪2006 - Legal Clinic participates in Fair Budget Coalition and Affordable Housing Alliance's successful efforts to establish publicly-funded Emergency Assistance and Rent Supplement programs

▪Spring 2006 - District government renews threats to close Franklin Shelter

▪Summer 2006 - Residents of Franklin Shelter form the "Committee to Save Franklin Shelter" to oppose the scheduled closing of the facility

▪Fall 2006 - Legal Clinic expands our grass roots advocacy efforts to support our clients as they use their voices to speak in the public debates that impact their lives

▪October 2006 - Deputy Mayor announces that Franklin will remain open and in the homeless services inventory

▪November/December 2006 - Legal Clinic co-convenes the Homelessness Work Group of the Fenty Transition team

▪December 2006 - WLCH co-leads coalition to advocate for greater accessibility to government services for people with disabilities; the Disability Rights Protection Act becomes law

▪January 2007 - Mayor Adrian Fenty declares that addressing the needs of people who are homeless is a top priority of his administration

▪March 21, 2007 - Home Court 20!!!!!!!