Washington Lawyer - November/December 2020 - 21

come out of this with a broader understanding of social justice, racial
equity, and racial justice," she says.
But Cole is also aware that opportunities may be limited. "I'm in a race
against time because I know that at some point COVID is going to be
normalized, so I'm trying to reach out and educate as many people as
I can." Rallying the support of funders and collaborating with others in
the legal services community are vital to those efforts.

One of the strengths of the
provider community is that we
can be very nimble. We can move
rapidly to respond to the need.

"Are we prepared to say that we don't need poor people? That there's no
added value to poor people or to children who grow up poor? When envisioning the city I want to live in, what I envision is a rich tapestry that we
get to pull from. Are we prepared, as a city, to lose that?" Cole asks.

GRACE LOPES
Rising for Justice

Rebecca Lindhurst, managing attorney of Bread for the City's Legal Clinic,
reflects on her nearly two decades in the city and its changing demographics. "D.C. [has been] 'Chocolate City,' and the question is whether
it will continue to be Chocolate City. The District continues to invest in
housing for people who are coming to the city anew, but it has failed to
invest in the housing of people who have lived here for generations,"
she says. At risk for all of us, Lindhurst says, is the richness of a city that
is racially and economically diverse.

BRACING FOR EVICTION SURGE
LTLAN launched its live help services on June 1, and today it serves as
the central point of contact for all tenants and small landlords seeking
assistance. LTLAN lawyers serve all income-eligible tenants, while those
with higher incomes are placed with the Landlord Tenant Resource
Center's pro bono attorneys. Calls are typically returned within an hour,
with LTLAN attorneys providing legal advice or information and, if appropriate, a referral for limited-scope or full representation.

Echoing statements by Mayor Muriel Bowser, Eric Angel, executive
director of the Legal Aid Society, says that the city is faced with a oncein-a-generation opportunity to build a more just and racially equitable
Washington, D.C. Collaborative efforts undertaken today to ensure access
to legal counsel can help make that possible. "We want to work with
the court to transform the process of civil justice and make it more fair,
and more racially fair," he says.

John T. Rich of Goodwin Procter LLP has been volunteering for years at
the Pro Bono Center's Landlord Tenant Resource Center. He says the transition to remote service was both quick and effective. "The Pro Bono
Center has done a great job planning out how we are going to handle
people remotely, and it's worked out very well. I was impressed at how
quickly they were able to set it up," Rich says.

The need for LTLAN's services is expected to grow dramatically. Rebecca
K. Troth, executive director of the Pro Bono Center, cites U.S. Census
Bureau figures indicating that almost half of adults live in renter households that have experienced job or income loss recently. A similar percentage struggled to make ends meet even before the pandemic. The
data suggests that housing insecurity will impact a much broader
segment of the population than previously.

A moratorium on evictions has meant that many referrals are not yet ripe
for litigation, but the service has been an important source of information in an environment where changes are rapidly occurring. In addition,
LTLAN's efforts in advance of the resumption of evictions mean that
infrastructure will be in place to contend with what many view as an
impending crisis.

Troth says that attorneys interested in contributing to the response can
get involved now. "We've listed the trainings that are available online and
will be available in the coming months so that people can be prepared
to take the cases we know are coming," Troth says. "We appreciate that

"We're worried about the demand. People are supposed to be paying
rent through the health emergency, but I believe many will not be able
to," says Rich. "That will be a real eviction crisis in the District of Columbia
. . . I think it's going to be a horrific situation in December."
Rich's concern is shared by virtually everyone involved in housing
issues. Gabriella Lewis-White, a managing attorney at the D.C. Bar Pro
Bono Center, was among those who worked to establish LTLAN. She's
preparing for the end of the eviction moratorium with some trepidation,
though she is hopeful that the pandemic's impacts will cause a shift
in perspective. "I hope that this forces us as a society to think of housing
as a basic human right because that's how it should be thought about . . .
once you lose your housing, everything else starts to fall apart in
your life."
Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and
that's true regarding housing uncertainty. For many involved, this is a
point of particular concern. Karen A. Newton Cole, executive director of
the Neighborhood Legal Services Program, hopes that the crisis will
produce a deeper awareness of the barriers its clients face. "We need to

Dennis Drenner Photographs

Rising for Justice

FEATURE

I hope that this forces us as
a society to think of housing as
a basic human right because
that's how it should be thought
about . . . once you lose your
housing, everything else starts
to fall apart in your life.
GABRIELLA LEWIS-WHITE
D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

WASHINGTON LAWYER

Washington Lawyer - November/December 2020

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