‘Housing as a Human Right’ Conference Advances Solutions for Homelessness

As part of its “Right to a Home” project, Law at the Margins brings together the homeless community and allies to continue building a grassroots movement that ends the housing crisis in America.

Over 500,000 people remain homeless in the United States, and the issue has become a public health crisis. But there is a way out of this longstanding problem. To advance solutions for homelessness, Law at the Margins organized “Housing as a Human Right: How We Solve Homelessness” — a virtual conference with the homeless community and allies focused on building a grassroots movement that ends the housing crisis in America.

The event on July 25 is part of “The Right to a Home,” a Law at the Margins project that recognizes, like the United Nations in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, that housing is a human right.

As stated in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”

Our work is a step toward making these human rights a reality. Supported by a Solutions Journalism Network grant and led by Community Based News Room (CBNR), “The Right to a Home” was produced in partnership with four street media papers: Street Spirit in Berkeley, California; StreetWise in Chicago; The Contributor in Nashville, Tennessee; and Street Sense Media in Washington, D.C. The project provided on-the-ground reporting with homeless community members and professional journalists to address issues impacting the homeless community in America, renew hope and change lives. 

In the spirit of continued collaboration, the following participants are taking part in our event, including writers and editors from all four street papers:

Chaumtoli Huq, Law at the Margins

Eric Ortiz, Community Based News Room

Reggie Black, Street Sense Media

Marcus Moore, Picture the Homeless (New York City)

Vicky Batcher, The Contributor (Nashville)

Couper Orona, House the Bay (San Francisco)

Alastair Boone, Street Spirit (Berkeley)

Needa Bee, The Village (Oakland)

Kyle Arbuckle, Low Income Housing Coalition (Washington, D.C.)

Zach Johnson, Call to Action (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Celina Trowell, Vocal—New York

Suzanne Hanney, StreetWise

Amanda Haggard, The Contributor

Eric Falquero, Street Sense Media

Balakrishnan Rajagopal, UN Rapporteur

Together, we will learn more about lived experiences and solutions to the housing crisis and homelessness. We’ll also discuss racial and health impacts of current news, with a goal toward ensuring everyone has universal access to safe, secure and affordable housing with freedom from forced eviction. 

Media outlets or anyone else interested in “Right to a Home” stories or learning more about the project should contact Chaumtoli Huq at lawatthemargins@gmail.com or Eric Ortiz at erictortiz@gmail.com.

To view all of the Right to a Home articles, click here.