DC Council, We Thank You and So Do Families!

Posted on May 16, 2012 in Client Victories, DC Budget, DC Policies and Plans, Housing, Poverty | 0 comments

Thanks to the leadership of Chairman Kwame Brown and the support of several Councilmembers, the DC Council voted unanimously yesterday to approve a budget that prioritizes homeless families by including a $4 million investment in the Local Rent Supplement Program (LRSP)!  These funds will be used to house 250 families currently staying in DC shelters and will ultimately open up shelter space so that new families that experience a housing crisis...

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An Eventful Day At the DC Council

Posted on May 1, 2012 in Client Victories, DC Budget, DC Policies and Plans, Homelessness, Housing, Shelter | 1 comment

The DC Council’s Committee of the Whole held its FY2013 Budget Support Act Hearing on April 30th. Executive Director Patricia Mullahy Fugere testified for the Legal Clinic, challenging the Council to pass a budget that lives up to the ideals embraced when the Council declared DC to be a “Human Rights City” just three years ago. You can read her testimony here.  The most eventful moment of the hearing was when over sixty men,...

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A Journey Home

Posted on Mar 27, 2012 in Client Victories, Clients, Homelessness, Housing, Law, Poverty, Shelter | 0 comments

We mark our 25th anniversary this year and look to this important occasion not as a celebration, but rather as a call to action.  With nearly 7,000 people homeless in the nation’s capital on any given day (about 40% of whom are in families), and tens of thousands of households struggling to find housing that they can afford, there seems little to celebrate.  To be sure, we’ve helped a lot of people move their lives to a better place, but so...

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{Client Victories – 6/14/2011}

Posted on Jun 14, 2011 in Client Victories, Clients, Housing, Law | 0 comments

When Alison Battiste, an attorney with Kalorama Partners, first met her client, LB, at our Unity Clinic intake site, LB had no source of income and no place to call her own.  After many months of work, Alison won over $900 per month in Social Security disability benefits for LB.  But Alison didn’t stop there.  With income in hand, LB was able to qualify for subsidized housing.  Alison helped her work through some issues related to the lease up...

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{Client Victories – 5/16/11}

Posted on May 16, 2011 in Client Victories, Clients | 0 comments

Brianne Kucerik of Weil Gotshal worked tirelessly for more than 3 years on behalf of a client seeking SSI benefits, based on both mental and physical disabilities. After being denied several years ago, the client reapplied, and Brianne spent countless hours advocating for her with SSA, which finally paid off when she was awarded both Title II benefits & SSI going back to 2009. Thanks, Brianne!

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{Client Victories – 5/9/11}

Posted on May 9, 2011 in Client Victories, Clients, People | 0 comments

WLCH volunteer Ari Meltzer of Wiley Rein helped a client, whose mother had died recently, to establish that he was now solely responsible for his housing costs. This justified restoration of the client’s full SSI benefits. Thanks to Ari’s quick action, the client was able to remain in his housing and have enough income to pay for his housing costs.

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