Category: Update

*Check out Antonio Gibson on NPR talking about his experience with homelessness on Dec. 25, 2010* By Antonio Gibson, Former Legal Clinic Client Once a two parent household, myself and the mother of my children both had pretty substantial jobs. She would later be laid off from Bank of America in August, 2008. I then had no choice but to try to make my 1200.00 monthly income cover an eight hundred dollar rent along with other living expensive. After a year long effort I then found myself alone and facing eviction October, 2009. After unsuccessful attempts to contact organizations that… Read more…

By Patty Mullahy Fugere Dear Friends – It is with great sorrow that I write to inform you of the passing of our beloved colleague, Mary Ann Luby. She succumbed to cancer late last night after learning of the disease not even two weeks ago. As you might expect if you know Mary Ann at all, she was at peace on the final days of her earth journey. She remained restless, though, about the injustices around her and managed to prepare a “to do” list of work that must continue on in her absence. To honor all that she was… Read more…

These are challenging times, to be sure.   On Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Fenty released his proposal to close a budget gap for the current fiscal year of over $185 million. As feared, his proposal includes cuts to some of our community’s most basic safety net programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Interim Disability Assistance (IDA) and the Local Rent Supplement Program (LRSP).   These are programs that have helped many of our low- and no-income neighbors in the District to meet their families’ basic needs when they are unable to work; to maintain some stability in their lives as they… Read more…

Join the Legal Clinic for the annual “Help the Homeless” Walk-a-Thon on November 20. Our group will meet at 8:30am by the carousel in front of the old Smithsonian building on the National Mall. Please RSVP to Laura Russello, Development Associate, at laura@legalclinic.org. You can register for the event by clicking on this link. https://secure3.convio.net/hth/site/SPageServer?JServSessionIdr004=0p3lln65q2.app304a&pagename=10_involved_walk_landing Please be sure to enter the “Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless” as your beneficiary organization. We hope to see you there! Read more…

By Nick Cassalbore, Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless Volunteer Coordinator In 2009, volunteers with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless assisted clients with over 740 legal issues. It is our pleasure to share some of their recent victories. The problem: A single mother and her four children are threatened with a termination notice by their transitional housing program. How we helped: WLCH volunteer secures housing and a lease for the client and her family. The problem: An elderly man is told by the Social Security Administration that he has been overpaid by $54,000. How we helped: WLCH volunteer… Read more…

By Patty Mullahy Fugere, Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless Executive Director As we trudge through these dog days of summer, it’s hard to imagine the mercury dropping below 80 for more than a twelve hour stretch at a time. Yet the calendar tells us that’s just around the corner…and so, too, do the preparations of DC’s Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) for hypothermia season 2010-2011. This past winter will forever be memorable on a number of accounts: record snowfall; record school and government closures; record sales of Bengay for muscles aching from endless shoveling. Yet some of the most… Read more…

By Amber Harding, Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless Staff Attorney A mother walks the city in 100 degree heat with her 10 year old son and 2 year old daughter, desperately searching for help to get her family off the streets.  They have spent the last five weeks repeating this pattern since losing their housing; told daily that there is no room for them in shelter.  This mother lives in fear that she will lose custody of her children because she cannot provide a safe place for them to rest their heads. After being evicted from their home in… Read more…

By Patty Mullahy Fugere – Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless Executive Director Welcome to “…with Housing and Justice for All,” the new blog of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. As our friends already know, the Legal Clinic is deeply committed to a vision of a just and inclusive District of Columbia.  We dedicate ourselves to building a community that respects the rights and honors the dignity of all of her members, no matter the ward of their residence nor the balance of their bank account.  For nearly twenty-five years, we have used the tools of the legal… Read more…