Advocates in the Spotlight: Angela Lariviere and the Youth Empowerment Program

Many people, from staff and board members to conference attendees and members, work with the Coalition to help us achieve our mission. “Advocates in the Spotlight” celebrates different types of advocates, from people in the field to those behind-the-scenes working in our office every day. See the rest of the series here. 

Imagine studying for the SATs in a homeless shelter. Or finding yourself traveling the country alone at 18 because the law says you’re too old for foster care. Or relying on distant relatives for temporary housing while your parents try to transition from homelessness to stability. You’re imagining what it’s like to be a homeless child.

Angela Lariviere, once homeless herself growing up, saw just how many Ohio children were growing up homeless as an AmeriCorps volunteer working at COHHIO, an NLIHC state coalition partner in Columbus. She realized she hadn’t been as alone as she thought, and that she was in a position to help.

Ethan, Ben, Angela, Shane and Lashonda

Angela joined with homeless youth she met in Ohio homeless shelters to form the Youth Empowerment Program, a grassroots network of young people experiencing homelessness that addresses the needs of homeless, transitioning and unaccompanied youth age 11-24. A youth-directed organization, YEP’s goal is to prevent and end youth homelessness through state, local and federal advocacy.

We caught up with Angela and four YEP youth- Ben, Lashonda, Ethan and Shane- during their recent visit to Washington, D.C. to meet with Representative Steve Stivers (R-OH) and tour the nation’s capital.

The five advocates looked tired from a long morning of travel, but their passion for advocacy and helping homeless youth shined through during our interview.

It was clear that for Ben, who became homeless through aging out of foster care, the opportunity to advocate for his own and other YEP members’ needs was empowering and validating. He spoke eloquently about the need not to manage the crisis of youth homelessness, but to prevent it. He explained that the five focus issues of YEP- housing, education, foster care, physical and mental health, and juvenile justice- must all be addressed in order to end youth homelessness. “It’s all interconnected,” Ben said. “It’s not just one thing [homeless] youth face.”

Lashonda has been involved with YEP since meeting Angela in her AmeriCorps days 11 years ago. She saw the power of advocacy first-hand when shelter regulations meant her 13 year old brother would not be able to stay in the women and children’s shelter with Lashonda and their mother, because of his age. Her brother spoke to lawmakers and paved the way for this rule to be changed, making it easier for homeless families to stay together. Lashonda credits her involvement with YEP for her extensive knowledge of housing and homelessness issues, and for helping her become more comfortable offering her own experiences in order to help others.

Angela emphasized that a key focus of YEP is advocating for policy that accounts for the true circumstances of homeless youth. YEP is governed by homeless youth, and YEP used focus groups and surveys of homeless youth to develop its advocacy agenda and identify necessary policy changes. YEP youth are empowered not just to tell the stories of their lives, but to become leaders in advocacy and social change.

The camaraderie among Angela and the YEP youth was evident, and they all made clear that YEP functioned as a support network for its members as well as being an engine of advocacy. YEP youth use Facebook to keep in touch with each other and make sure to reach out to those experiencing hardship. They learn to rely on each other, and to be relied on. Angela explained how vital this support is to homeless youth, as it is “constantly a conflict to pull out of” the circumstances that cause homelessness.

Affordable housing, of course, is a key issue and at the top of YEP’s advocacy priorities. “Housing is a sense of stability,” Lashonda said. “Instability in your life leads to other [negative] things.”

Are you as inspired by Angela and YEP as we are? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Advocates in the Spotlight: Michael Dahl

Many people, from staff and board members to conference attendees and members, work with the Coalition to help us achieve our mission. “Advocates in the Spotlight” celebrates different types of advocates, from people in the field to those behind-the-scenes working in our office every day. We continue this series by interviewing an advocate who has been doing a lot of spotlighting of his own, Michael Dahl of St. Paul, Minnesota.

As part of his “Talk About Home” project, Michael has been interviewing a wide range of pedestrians walking around the Twin Cities about the meaning of home and their response to the extreme levels of homelessness in their state. Videos of the interviews are posted on his website, which he hopes help make affordable housing and ending homelessness major issues during the 2012 election.

Our Communications Project Manager Sarah Brundage recently got Michael to take some time off from interviewing people on the streets of Minnesota, and got him on the other end of the camera to ask him a few questions of her own about his hands-on advocacy work.

The man behind the camera

SB: “Talk about Home” is a really exciting and engaging project. What does advocacy mean to you and how did your personal experience of advocacy inspire this idea?

MD: Advocacy has always been my thing and my drive has been to work on affordable housing issues. My advocacy has also been very drawn to being participatory…. We’re not going to get major change on issues unless we involve the public in a way we’re not doing right now. The reason we’re not doing that is because [we think] housing is so confusing and people won’t understand what we’re talking about. I wanted to put that to test and so I started thinking about what would happen if I went out and interviewed people.

When I started interviewing individuals it was beautiful in some ways; in other ways it was heart wrenching. I just decided to keep that up, and hopefully learn some lessons that I could teach advocates about how to communicate with people about housing in a way that they can understand it.

And while people do talk about housing differently, when they talk about affordable housing and homelessness they have a really good sense of it. People might not use the same words that we use but they know how to make sense of the problem.

SB: We were excited to see that you had used data from NLIHC’s annual Out of Reach report to help introduce this project on your website. You referenced Minnesota’s Housing Wage of $15.50 to show how low-wage workers cannot afford to live in that state. As a long-time affordable housing advocate, what role has Out of Reach has played in your advocacy work?

MD: Ever since I’ve been aware of Out of Reach I’ve been using it, and I’ve been using it a lot. It’s a really simple way to talk to anybody – whether it’s people on the streets, people living in housing or politicians – they understand that someone has to work to afford housing in most cases, and that full-time work often doesn’t pay for what we would consider quality housing.

SB: Unfortunately the state of affordable housing as described by Out of Reach has not improved much over the years. Do the report and the Housing Wage still surprise you?

MD: In some respects it’s what I’ve grown to expect since the numbers haven’t changed dramatically over the past few years. Even though they’re not headed in a good direction, I want to know that we’re not moving the ball forward enough right now, and that we need policies to do that. The Out of Reach report is a really good indicator of, “Are our policies being effective or not?”

The reason we’re not being effective enough isn’t because we don’t know how to do policy or because we don’t have answers or because we haven’t gotten politicians to pay enough attention to what the solutions are so far…. They key to getting politicians to pay attention is to not have just me talking about affordable housing, homelessness and Out of Reach data, it’s to have the public talking about it.

Two or three times a week, Michael “panhandles” for videotaped interviews about the meaning of “home”. While most of those interviewed are from Minnesota, he’s also talked to people from at least a dozen other states as well as visitors from Britain, Venezuela, and Costa Rica.

SB: You have interviewed over 100 individuals already. What would you say is the greatest take-away?

MD: I have people identify what they think about home and do they have particular memories, and it doesn’t matter if the person is well off, has an intact family or is homeless, I’d say 98% of them identify home as something they really love. We have this common good feeling about home, and when I ask people about those memories and I get them to think about the bigger issue they start to think, “What would it be like if I didn’t have this security, that place to go to, if I never cooked with mom, what happened if I lived in a car?” I’ve seen people grappling with the fact that what they have if they’re doing okay right now is not something that a lot of people have and it’s getting worse. And if they’re homeless, they still realize how important stability is, and how they’re not able to get out of their homeless situation because of the lack of stability.

So my advice, my punch line, the thing I want to get to for advocates and politicians that care about housing issues is… we’re still going to have to use the acronyms and the legislative speech in certain circles, but if we want to get the public behind us on a major policy initiative, we need to talk about how people can’t rely on home as a place of safety, as a place to go back to. Those are important things to people and a lot of folks don’t have it.

I hope that we find a way to talk about this in ways that really resonate with the public because as the interviews show, they’re ready to talk about this. They understand it.

Click on the image to watch one of Michael’s favorite interviews featuring Timothy, a man experiencing homelessness who gave an “extremely thoughtful and empathetic interview.”

Watch more interviews at www.speakforwe.com/talk-about-home and stay tuned for tips from Michael on how you can start your own “Talk About Home” project locally, coming soon!

Meet Our Interns: Chelsea Dalziel

The National Low Income Housing Coalition is fortunate to have great interns every semester and summer. Over the next several weeks, each of our summer interns will share their experiences at the Coalition with you. Think interning with the Coalition might be for you? Learn more here!

For as long as I can remember, I have been passionate about public interest and social justice issues. This passion led me to become an active volunteer throughout my high school and undergraduate career, as well as to my decision to attend law school, where my desire to serve the public interest is reinforced on a daily basis.

As an active member in Charlotte Law’s Pro Bono Program, I have had multiple opportunities to assist vulnerable and underrepresented populations in my community. Being part of this program has led me to develop a desire to serve the underserved on the larger scale through research and policy work. So I was immediately interested in applying for an internship position with the National Low Income Housing Coalition as soon as I learned of the opportunity.

At NLIHC, I am currently one of two research interns. I am extremely fortunate to hold such a position, because it allows me develop a diverse skill set that would be hard to obtain elsewhere. My responsibilities as a research intern vary greatly, including writing articles for NLIHC’s weekly newsletter, Memo to Members; researching low income housing trends and programs in place to assist low income individuals; and updating state housing profiles. I have also had a few opportunities to attend congressional hearings to help show the organization’s support or opposition to certain legislation.

While it can be challenging being a new intern, it is a challenge that should be met head on. The staff at NLIHC is friendly, supportive and very appreciative of all of their interns. They understand that new interns might not be savvy to the inner workings of the organization, or to all of the prevalent issues NLIHC was established to address. They are happy to answer as many questions as you may have, as well as expose you to as much as they possibly can.

Although my internship position has not yet ended, it has already produced multiple benefits for my future. For example, holding such a position has helped me secure an advocacy intern position with the Charlotte Housing Authority that I will begin in the fall. It has also played a part in my acceptance onto the editorial board of a new law journal that focuses on civil and social justice issues, where I plan on utilizing the knowledge I have gained from NLIHC to develop and publish an article focused on low income housing issues.

If you are a public interest-minded individual seeking a diverse and rewarding experience in the heart of D.C., and interested in assisting a distinguished nonprofit organization with their mission, I would highly recommend an internship with NLIHC.

Independence Day

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

As we celebrate Independence Day, it’s worth taking some time to look back at the Declaration of Independence and consider what it means for Americans today.

The Declaration of Independence states that above all, the purpose of government is to protect the rights of the people. Those rights are not determined by the government; they are universally recognized rights inherent to us as human beings. Interestingly, the Declaration also comments on the human propensity to put up with injustice as long as we can bear it. Or, in the words of the Declaration, we are “disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable.”

How does this relate to the housing needs of low income people? The 6.8 million American households for whom there is no affordable, available rental housing know something about suffering. They spend a disproportionate amount of their income on rent and are thus forced to scrimp on other necessities. These families largely live in substandard housing. Their homes are often hours from their jobs. They frequently live in overcrowded, stressful conditions. Far from having the freedom to embark on the “pursuit of Happiness,” these are Americans barely able to sustain their lives.

The persistent shortage of affordable housing tells us that the government’s efforts to ease the housing shortage have not gone far enough. The remedy we urge is milder than the one prescribed in the Declaration, but equally powerful. We believe that both those suffering, and those who stand with them, must band together to advocate for a lasting solution.

We believe the evils are no longer sufferable for the millions of Americans who find their housing at risk due to job loss, foreclosure or wages that are simply too low to live on. They are not sufferable for children who fall behind in school, or for seniors who must live out their last years in poverty. And they are not sufferable even for the middle and high income Americans whose own housing is secure, but whose communities suffer under the weight of the housing and homelessness crisis.

There is historical precedent for our call to action. According to University of Chicago professor Eric Slauter, when the Declaration of Independence was issued, most, its authors included, believed the list of grievances to be the most vital part. The paragraph quoted at the top of this post was secondary. But over time, one phrase came to be sign and symbol of the promise of America: “all men are created equal.”

Professor Slauter writes that many groups, most prominently abolitionists but also those advocating the rights of women and workers, saw their mission validated in that phrase. The Coalition sees in it a validation of one of the core principles of our work: all Americans are equal regardless of income, and should have equal access to the opportunities and rights that being and American provides- especially access to affordable, decent housing. The lowest income Americans have suffered too long, and it is our right, and our duty, to advocate for change.

We are so close to achieving the lasting solution we need. In 2008, Congress authorized the National Housing Trust Fund, which will provide communities with funds to build, preserve, and rehabilitate rental homes that are affordable for extremely and very low income households- those very households who suffer the evils of the housing shortage.

This program is authorized, but not yet funded. This year, affordable housing advocates must see to it that Congress provides the National Housing Trust Fund with the $1 billion requested by President Obama.  Viable dedicated funding sources exist; our job is to encourage Members of Congress to embrace them.

As we celebrate our independence as a nation, let’s consider the rights generations of Americans have fought to protect, and the work we still have before us today. It was the advocacy of thousands of individuals and organizations that created the National Housing Trust Fund, and countless other good solutions to the problems Americans have faced. It will be our advocacy that funds the trust fund and brings our nation closer to achieving the life, liberty and happiness our founders envisioned.

Building a Movement

Ordinarily, we use our Wednesday posts to discuss policy issues. But we readily admit that it takes more than just good ideas and some research findings to move a policy agenda through Congress. It takes the voices of many to encourage lawmakers to act. This is why we work so hard to grow our membership, build the public will for a change in housing policy, and engage advocates like you in the process through Calls to Action and our annual lobby day.

What it takes, in other words, is a whole lot of us working toward the same goal and building a movement.

On his Washington Post blog today, Ezra Klein shared some interesting thoughts on movement-building from a community organizer named Rich Yeselson. Yeselson analyzes the current Occupy Wall Street protests in the context of past social movements and identifies a number of things he thinks will determine the success of this or any social movement:

[T]he work of skilled organizers; the success of those organizers in getting people, once these events end, to meet over and over and over again; whether or not the movement can promote public policy solutions that are organically linked to the quotidian lives of its supporters…..

How does advocacy for affordable housing match up to these standards? What do you think housing advocates need to do to ensure the building and preservation of housing affordable to the lowest income people? Let us know what you think in the comments.