Amber W. Harding

National Guard deployment in DC found to be unlawful!
We are grateful to have played even a small part in fighting against the militarization of D.C. and for the right to control DC's public safety response. Thank you @aclu-dc.bsky.social @washlaw4cr.bsky.social for your work on this amicus!

As pro bono week wraps up, we want to share our appreciation for our amazing volunteers. On Tuesday, wepresented awards to several exceptional volunteers and law firms who help us provide excellent legal representation to our clients. Read more here: www.legalclinic.org/legal-clinic...

Announcing our new Legal Monitor Program! Join us to help protect the rights of unhoused DC residents in interactions with law enforcement. You do not have to be a lawyer to become a Legal Monitor. Sign up today!

Proud to sign onto an amicus brief led by @washlaw4cr.bsky.social & @aclu-dc.bsky.social supporting @dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social lawsuit to stop the federal deployment of National Guard.

DC's 200-year fight for Home Rule is inextricably linked to racial justice.

www.washlaw.org/civil-rights...

This Wednesday, Congress will discuss a bill to put people in jail/fine them for sleeping outside in DC. DC residents have no vote in Congress, yet some people in Congress want to rewrite our laws AND lock people up for being homeless.

Tell Congress NO.

www.votervoice.net/NHLC/campaig...

We are hiring a new member of our Communications and Development team! Please spread the word! www.legalclinic.org/jobs-and-int...

We're building a strong rapid response to counter the abuse of power by the Trump Administration-- hiring a Civil Rights Attorney to strengthen our team's work to ensure that homeless people can live their lives w/out police harassment and property destruction. www.legalclinic.org/jobs-and-int...

DC, hope to see you tomorrow at the @freedcproject.bsky.social rally standing up for the rights and autonomy of all DC residents!

We are watching closely as the federal government broadcasts various threats to folks without homes in D.C. We want to be clear about a few things. 🧵

Trump starts "7 days of action" tonight with forced hospitalization/institutionalization/arrest of homeless people in DC. No warning given to anyone who might have gotten people off the street humanely.

In my decades of budget advocacy in DC, only a handful of budgets stand out for feeling anywhere near just or right, tbh. Flush and scarce times, it is rare to see electeds build a budget for this city in a way that really recognizes and responds to the need, without hiding behind trickle down econ.

I don't think you can make those choices without thinking those DC residents are not like you, that you are not accountable to them, or that the residents are somehow less than. Because if you think they are like you, or you could be them, you would do everything you can to make sure they were ok.

But they care about other things more. Whether it is cops or econ dev 9r sports teams or whatever, their top priority is very very rarely making sure DC residents can meet basic survival needs. And that is so depressing.

Every budget season we have conversations with electeds where they will say, for example, I care about immigrants having healthcare deeply, ending homelessness, homeless kids not being knowingly put at risk, etc..

Budget advocacy always makes me sad, and I know it does for other people too. There's something really jarring about seeing the actual monetary value electeds put on the rights and lives of people you know, maybe people you share a history/identity with. It is so telling, and rarely in a good way.

We absolutely need it.

@brianneknadeau.bsky.social @cmcharlesallen.bsky.social @cmchenderson.bsky.social @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social @cmzparker5.bsky.social @cmbrookepinto.bsky.social @robertwhitedc.bsky.social
@anitabondsdc.bsky.social

We know
@chmnmendelson.bsky.social worked hard to find funding for these priorities. We are grateful for his efforts. But the remaining gaps are significant, and will result in immediate and irreparable harm to DC residents. We encourage the Council to increase revenue to meet these needs.

Some lowlights:
❌ Not enough ERAP
❌ No housing vouchers for individuals
❌ MORE families will be terminated from housing than will receive housing support
❌ Families will still be forced to share rooms in shelter with strangers
❌ Rights in rapid re-housing eviscerated

Some highlights:
✅Increased ERAP and vouchers for families
✅Funding to expand non-congregate family shelter
✅Guardrails and restrictions on use of shared sleeping spaces for families (Subtitle K)
Thank you also to @cmfrumin.bsky.social for efforts here

@chmnmendelson.bsky.social proposed budget is out. While we are very grateful for all the work the Council has done to mitigate the harm in the mayor's proposed budget, there is still a long way to go for this budget to reflect DC values, particularly in the area of homelessness & housing:

Thread!!

Interesting use of passive voice. Let me edit that quote for accuracy:
"We have to risk the safety of homeless kids in shelter because I decided to mass terminate thousands of families from rapid rehousing and, as expected, now there are more homeless families."

We know the solution to street homelessness and encampments is housing, not displacement. So why is there money for evicting people from encampments but not money for housing those same people?
@chmnmendelson.bsky.social @cmfrumin.bsky.social

Rapid re-housing creates a neverending cycle of homelessness for families in DC. The Council either needs to reform it or fund enough vouchers to break this cycle. The program keeps getting worse.
@chmnmendelson.bsky.social @robertwhitedc.bsky.social @cmfrumin.bsky.social @cmzparker5.bsky.social

The mayor has created this family homelessness crisis in large part thru her mass rapid re-housing terminations. Now her proposed fix is to force children to share sleeping quarters w/ strangers. We call upon the Council to reject this "fix."
@chmnmendelson.bsky.social @cmfrumin.bsky.social

D.C. Elected Leaders Are Failing Unhoused Residents, But That Can Change With Your Help! On Monday, July 14, the D.C. Council will take its first vote on our local budget and many legal changes that will impact the lives of D.C. residents. As we discussed here, the mayor’s budget propo…

Update: D.C. Elected Leaders Are Failing Unhoused Residents, But That Can Change With Your Help!
www.legalclinic.org/d-c-elected-...

D.C. could put some unhoused families in communal shelters again, worrying advocates Advocates and lawmakers fear the change would reverse the progress the city's made since closing the dilapidated D.C. General shelter in 2018. Officials see it as a stopgap measure as shelters near ca...

Terminating 1000s from housing w/ no extensions/appeals/other housing options is a recipe for disaster.
“These policies will have people cycling right back into shelter. However, sending families w/ minor children back to congregate shelters certainly isn’t the solution.”
wamu.org/story/25/07/...

Reject Subtitle K: Don't Send Families Back into Congregate Shelters, Stop RRH Harm, & Fund Vouchers Unfortunately, the mayor's budget proposal is full of harmful cuts to critical programs and services that assist D.C.'s lowest-income residents. Despite an insufficient amount of funding for housing v...

The Mayor's proposing making rapid rehousing worse (no extensions, no meaningful appeals), taking away health & safety protections for homeless families (families in shared sleeping quarters), & little to no housing that ends homelessness. Take action! actionnetwork.org/letters/reje...

... If communal shelter is legalized during hypothermia season, lives of staff and D.C. residents will be in jeopardy.” DASH, 2010

@chmnmendelson.bsky.social @cmfrumin.bsky.social