The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless provides comprehensive legal support to individuals and families who are struggling with poverty and homelessness in Washington, DC. Giant Food has supported this nonprofit organization through its Community Bag Program.
Tell us about the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.
The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless envisions a just and inclusive community for all residents of the District of Columbia, where housing is a human right and every individual and family has equal access to the resources they need to thrive.
Our mission is to use the law to make justice a reality for those who struggle with homelessness and poverty. Combining community lawyering and advocacy to achieve our clients’ goals, our staff and volunteer attorneys provide low-barrier, comprehensive legal services to help our clients access housing, shelter, and life-saving services. Rooted in client experiences, we effectively blend system reform efforts, policy advocacy, community education, and client engagement to advocate for long-term improvements in programs.
What services do you provide to the community?
Our primary community service is free legal services for low-income DC residents. In DC, there are not enough lawyers to help low-income people who need assistance. To amplify our impact, our staff attorneys partner with and supervise volunteer attorneys, who work for the government, law firms, or other places, to provide free legal services.
In addition, our staff members provide free legal education to the community and connect DC residents with services, decision-makers, and advocacy opportunities. We also operate a Client Emergency Fund to help our clients overcome barriers to housing, such as replacing an identification card, and meet other urgent financial needs.
What sets the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless apart from other nonprofits in your community?
We are an organization that does not take money from the federal or local government. This is a very intentional choice. Taking government money often comes with strings attached, not only for our organization but also for our clients.
Since we don’t take government money, we can offer low-barrier legal services. This means we don’t have to ask people to prove that they qualify for a government grant or to prove income eligibility, identity, or citizenship status prior to getting our services. We operate from the assumption that if somebody is coming to us for services that we have expertise in, then they need our help. So, we will help them.
Not taking government money also helps us further our advocacy efforts. It allows us to speak truth to power without any fear of retribution. Unfortunately, in our work, we are often adversarial to the government because that is who is harming our clients. The government often cuts people out of a program or reduces their benefits. Of course, this is not always the case, but it happens often. Not taking money from the government puts us in a better position to be an independent voice.
As an organization, we are also very nimble and strategic about the tools we use to solve a given problem. We do a lot of work in coalition with other people and organizations, including advocacy, nonviolent protest work, and other sorts of activism. We try to use all the tools in the toolbox, including writing legislation and going to court.
Lawyers are very client-led by profession, so it’s a natural extension of that value to orient towards community or client-led advocacy. Our clients come to us and tell us about these terrible things that may be happening to them and how they wish the system worked. We are able to work with our clients to fight for systemic reforms.
Tell us a story that illustrates the good work of your organization.
Right now, the mayor is terminating housing support for 2,200 families in a program called rapid re-housing. She claims that the city cannot afford to help these families for more than 12 months, so the Department of Human Services will cut all 2,200 families off from their rental assistance and case management over three months. This will be a historic mass displacement. It will have serious repercussions throughout the city. The number of homeless children in schools will double in one fell swoop. Housing is incredibly expensive in DC, and you have to work at least two full-time minimum-wage jobs to afford a small apartment.
Clients who are receiving termination notices are coming to our office, and we represent them in those appeals and help them request extensions. Many of these families have never been assessed for other housing programs that they might be eligible for. We help advocate for continued support when the families cannot afford to pay rent on their own.
Both with learnings from those legal cases and in collaboration with our client community, we are advocating that the city takes a different approach, a more humane approach, to the type and level of housing assistance it provides to people experiencing homelessness. We are regularly advocating for deeply affordable housing as the primary and most effective solution to homelessness. We believe that ending homelessness is not complicated or hard; it just takes sustained political will and consistent investments in what low-income DC residents say they need. We have a long way to go, but we are proud of the work we have done to fight for our clients’ legal rights as well as the services and programs they need to meet their needs.
We believe that ending homelessness is not complicated or hard; it just takes sustained political will and consistent investments in what low-income DC residents say they need.
What is your most outstanding achievement or contribution to the community?
Broadly, I am proud of how we never give up. We’ve even been called “relentless” before, but what is important is that our clients know we are on their side. Our clients can count on us to be there when things are rough. We push for the world to look different and be better. We’ve been doing that for 37 years and counting.
Our clients can count on us to be there when things are rough.
Many of us have been working with the organization for a long time. Personally, I’ve been there for 21 years. This kind of relentless and consistent advocacy has been important in the community. It has prevented many harmful things from happening and has made DC a more fair, humane, and equitable city.
Obviously, we have not achieved housing justice in the city yet. We are still far from it, but I think our presence in the community has gotten it a lot closer than if we weren’t there.
What do you want people to know about the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless?
I want people to realize how unaffordable Washington, DC, is to live in. The gap between people’s income and their rent is the primary reason we have homelessness. Many of the myths and stereotypes that people have about who is homeless aren’t true. In many high-end jurisdictions and cities, homelessness can impact anyone.
In many high-end jurisdictions and cities, homelessness can impact anyone.
Lawyers can play a critical role in standing alongside people in crisis. We are there not only to ensure basic needs are met but also to envision a world where people are truly seen as individuals and more structures and institutions are reformed.
We want the city we live and/or work in to be a place where everyone can afford to live and enjoy all the aspects of the city.
How will you use the funds you’ve received from the Giant Food Community Bag Program?
Since we don’t take government money, we rely on individual donations and grants to survive. We are a small but mighty organization with a big impact. These funds are critical to providing support and services that are extremely necessary in our community.
Our case numbers went up by more than 40% last year. The need is growing every day, so the more support we have from the community, the more we can grow to meet that demand.
Interview with Amber Harding, Executive Director
Published July 18, 2024.