Our Nations current homelessness crisis has been worsened due to the lack of effective, affordable and accessible legal representation during eviction hearings for low-income tenants and/or tenants who suffer from permanently disabling conditions including mental health disorders.

A mandatory Right To Counsel for members of our nations most vulnerable population of people should be considered a HUMAN RIGHT. People who suffer from a permanent disability are members of a federally protected class under the Civil Right Act and are entitled to disability related reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access to federally funded programs and facilities including affordable housing and courts.

This change will impact the low-income and disability communities that I advocate for as the founder and Executive Director of Community Bridges Inc., a 501c(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization that was created to bridge the gaps found in the affordable housing & supportive service providers system.

My daughter and I were evicted on August 14, 2018 from an affordable housing unit that was being paid for using subsidies from the HUD Continuum of Care housing and supportive service program. This eviction was filed in retaliation for my persistent reporting of fair housing and habitability violations and for forming a tenants union at the property to help educate other tenants about their Rights as Renters.

This retaliatory eviction took place after I won two separate general sessions court civil judgments against the landlord and after witnessing and reporting to Tennessee Human Rights Commission, Tennessee Housing Development Agency and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development that more than 100 tenants who were promised newly renovated & upgraded apartments were being evicted instead of temporarily or permanently relocated from the property after the new owners received $19.5 million dollars in tax -exempt bonds and low income housing tax credits as part of an acquisition and rehabilitation project to preserve affordable housing.

Evictions cause unwarranted displacement and are devastating and permanently damaging to our nations families. Low-Income families and families with members who suffer from a permanent disability are less likely to be able to recover from an eviction due to lacking emergency savings to rehouse themselves without receiving a form of housing subsidy.

***Will you stand with me and demand Housing Justice and A Right To Counsel for our vulnerable populations including those suffering from permanently disabling mental health disorders?***

#MentalHealthMattersToo

The current legal assistance agencies in Tennessee have tried but have proven themselves to be unable to provide effective representation for the growing number of tenants faced with eviction.

#HousingMeToo

***DISABLED LIVES MATTER TOO***

***RIGHT TO COUNSEL WILL HELP END HOMELESSNESS*** 

***HOUSING SHOULD BE A HUMAN RIGHT***

#HousingMeToo

The Right To Counsel combined with the fair housing and disability discrimination advocacy provided by Community Bridges Inc., is a fresh start headed in the new direction of President Biden's Executive Order addressing homelessness; as well as, an opportunity for the Volunteer State of Tennessee to receive more valuable input from the homeless communities moving forward to help end our nations homelessness crisis.

***Will you stand with me and demand Housing Justice and the Right To Counsel for our vulnerable populations including those suffering from permanently disabling mental health disorders?***