An attorney who has provided civil legal services to people experiencing homelessness shares her perspective on the latest episode of Legal Services Corporation’s “Talk Justice” podcast, released August 27. LSC President Ron Flagg hosts the episode featuring Carolyn Perez, program counsel at LSC and previously an attorney at The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.
Perez is passionate about correcting common misconceptions around homelessness. She explains that the stereotypical images of homelessness usually focus on older men who live on the street. However, Perez says that one million children in the U.S. are unhoused, with their families often staying in cars, shelters or motels.
“[One] misperception is that homelessness is just what we actually see on the street, but the frightening part of homelessness is not just what we see on the street,” Perez says. “We’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg, but we’re not seeing the iceberg itself—and that’s because most people who are experiencing homelessness are not visible.”
Seeing the “tip of the iceberg” also applies to the common perception of the circumstances that lead to homelessness, Perez goes on to explain. While much of the conversation around homelessness focuses on addiction and mental health problems, Perez says that in Washington, D.C. two thirds of people who are unhoused do not have substance abuse or mental health issues. She adds that often when people do have these health problems, the issues are exacerbated by the extreme stress of homelessness and are not the primary cause of the loss of housing.
One cause of homelessness that does not have as much visibility are civil legal problems. Eviction is the most obvious type of civil legal problem that relates to housing insecurity, but other legal issues that can lead to homelessness are consumer and medical debt, domestic violence and legal issues in the aftermath of natural disasters. Perez says that by providing legal services for these problems, legal aid organizations like the ones funded by LSC do critical work in preventing homelessness.
Perez says her time providing direct legal services to unhoused individuals and families with The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless had a huge impact and shifted her understanding of homelessness.
“When I first entered this field, I really started this work because I wanted to make a difference in individual lives and a lot of it was informed by my faith, and I really viewed it through a charity lens—I believed that homelessness was primarily a personal issue and that my role was to help individuals overcome their immediate challenges,” Perez says.
“But over time, I really learned the brokenness of the systems that our clients interact with, and so I really evolved to have much more of a social justice lens than a charity lens to this work,” she continues. “I started to understand that homelessness really isn’t just about an individual’s struggles, it’s rooted in systemic issues like inequality, like lack of affordable housing, like inadequate social services. And so now I really see these broader structural problems as essential to create meaningful and lasting change.”
Talk Justice episodes are available online and on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple and other popular podcast apps. The podcast is sponsored by LSC’s Leaders Council.
Perez is passionate about correcting common misconceptions around homelessness. She explains that the stereotypical images of homelessness usually focus on older men who live on the street. However, Perez says that one million children in the U.S. are unhoused, with their families often staying in cars, shelters or motels.
“[One] misperception is that homelessness is just what we actually see on the street, but the frightening part of homelessness is not just what we see on the street,” Perez says. “We’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg, but we’re not seeing the iceberg itself—and that’s because most people who are experiencing homelessness are not visible.”
Seeing the “tip of the iceberg” also applies to the common perception of the circumstances that lead to homelessness, Perez goes on to explain. While much of the conversation around homelessness focuses on addiction and mental health problems, Perez says that in Washington, D.C. two thirds of people who are unhoused do not have substance abuse or mental health issues. She adds that often when people do have these health problems, the issues are exacerbated by the extreme stress of homelessness and are not the primary cause of the loss of housing.
One cause of homelessness that does not have as much visibility are civil legal problems. Eviction is the most obvious type of civil legal problem that relates to housing insecurity, but other legal issues that can lead to homelessness are consumer and medical debt, domestic violence and legal issues in the aftermath of natural disasters. Perez says that by providing legal services for these problems, legal aid organizations like the ones funded by LSC do critical work in preventing homelessness.
Perez says her time providing direct legal services to unhoused individuals and families with The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless had a huge impact and shifted her understanding of homelessness.
“When I first entered this field, I really started this work because I wanted to make a difference in individual lives and a lot of it was informed by my faith, and I really viewed it through a charity lens—I believed that homelessness was primarily a personal issue and that my role was to help individuals overcome their immediate challenges,” Perez says.
“But over time, I really learned the brokenness of the systems that our clients interact with, and so I really evolved to have much more of a social justice lens than a charity lens to this work,” she continues. “I started to understand that homelessness really isn’t just about an individual’s struggles, it’s rooted in systemic issues like inequality, like lack of affordable housing, like inadequate social services. And so now I really see these broader structural problems as essential to create meaningful and lasting change.”
Talk Justice episodes are available online and on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple and other popular podcast apps. The podcast is sponsored by LSC’s Leaders Council.
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