Good morning everyone,

Be sure to see the action alerts...but equally important, Tristia Bauman's information on Blake v Grants Pass. I believe the City of Tacoma, and perhaps all of the jurisdictions, will want to revisit their codes. Tristia said that Blake v Grants Pass interprets Martin v Boise which is binding precedent. I'll put more notes in this week's Advocacy Update.

Be safe everyone,

Maureen

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: John Stovall <johns@wliha.org>
Date: Thu, Aug 20, 2020 at 9:15 AM
Subject: Actions & Resources! 8-19 COVID-19 Housing & Homelessness Call Follow-up
To:
Cc: Housing Alliance Staff <HousingAllianceStaff@wliha.org>

Hello everyone,

Thank you for registering for yesterday's COVID call, and as always thank you for the robust chat and the insightful questions for our speakers! Here is a link to the recording. See attached for our notes and the auto-generated transcript.

REGISTER FOR THE NEXT CALL *IN TWO WEEKS* (Sept 2) HERE!

If you would like to follow up with any of the amazing speakers on the call, please see below for their contact info:

Tedd Kelleher/Dept of Commerce: tedd.kelleher@commerce.wa.gov

Tristia Bauman/National Homelessness Law Center: TBauman@nlchp.org

Cruze Thompson/Rural Resources: cthompson@ruralresources.org

Cassie Lentz/Grays Harbor County: CLentz@co.grays-harbor.wa.us

Joey Lindstrom/National Low Income Housing Coalition: jlindstrom@nlihc.org

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE TODAY!

Federal Advocacy!

The National Low Income Housing Coalition released an action page this week urging Members of Congress to resume negotiations to ensure that we don't see a massive increase in homelessness during COVID-19. On the page there's an advocacy toolkit, story collection tool, and more. Take action here: https://mailchi.mp/nlihc.org/cta_081920?e=e814653c2a
Submit a comment on HUD's harmful proposed rule removing anti-discrimination protections for trans and nonbinary people experiencing homelessness. You can take action by submitting a comment via the #HousingSavesLives action page, and the National LGBTQ Taskforce has created a Partner Toolkit to assist you!

Influence our 2021 State Legislative Agenda!

Please take our Public Policy Survey which influences our 2021 legislative agenda. Tell us what you are seeing in your community regarding housing and homelessness! The deadline is 5pm on August 31st, so don't hesitate! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2021PolicySurvey?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=c93f750b-1f88-4314-9e88-e176fdd6bc97

Resources from the 8-19 Call

Register for the Virtual Conference on Ending Homelessness, Oct. 7-8!
Read the recent report from NLIHC, Evictionlab, COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project and Aspen Institute, outlining the eviction crisis ahead of us. This is an important source to cite when talking to lawmakers.
Some great resources from Tristia Bauman, National Homelessness Law Center:

Please see attached for the Order and Amicus Brief of the Grants Pass, OR, case
You can read more about the criminalization of homelessness and policy alternatives at: https://nlchp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/HOUSING-NOT-HANDCUFFS-2019-FINAL.pdf
You can read policy recommendations and case studies specific to encampments at https://nlchp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Tent_City_USA_2017.pdf
You can read about policy recommendations to protect renters and prevent homelessness at https://nlchp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ProtectTenants2018.pdf
You can find constructive program and policy info re: responses to COVID-19 on our coronavirus webpage: https://nlchp.org/coronavirus/

For those interested in joining NLIHC's topic-specific work group calls, including on State & Local Implementation or FEMA funds, you can sign up here: https://nlihc.org/covid-19-working-groupcalls
If your landlord is trying or threatening to evict you between now and October 15th, that is illegal in most cases, and the Attorney General's office is enforcing this. You can file a legal complaint with the AG here: https://fortress.wa.gov/atg/formhandler/ago/COVID19EvictionComplaintForm.aspx
And here is the link to the form in Spanish: https://fortress.wa.gov/atg/formhandler/ago/COVID19EvictionComplaintFormSpanish.aspx

Take care, and talk to you in two weeks!

John Stovall

He/Him/His

Member Organizer

Washington Low Income Housing Alliance

(706)247-3949

www.wliha.org

Join us for our annual Conference on Ending Homelessness, taking place virtually this year October 7-8. Register now to take advantage of early-bird rates!

Maureen Howard

MaureenHowardConsulting
maureenhowardconsulting@gmail.com

Tel: 253-756-8146 (LL)

Cell: 253-255-2200
3320 S. 8th Street
Tacoma, WA 98405

Honor John Lewis: Vote!

"Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."

"Never, ever be afraid
to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."