TOWARD A MORE JUST AND EQUITABLE DC

Dear Friends of Legal Aid:

The COVID-19 pandemic, now entering its third year, has laid bare the racial, social, and systemic inequities that have always existed in our community. Viruses aren’t racist, yet 88% of the DC residents who have lost their lives to COVID are Black or Hispanic (thankfully, vaccination rates for Black and white DC residents over 18 are now equally high, and deaths from the virus are steadily decreasing). A staggering 250,000 DC workers have filed claims for unemployment since the beginning of the pandemic, and the Black unemployment rate in the District is currently the highest in the country.

That isn’t to say there has been no cause for hope. No DC residents have lost their homes through lawful eviction or foreclosure process between March 2020 and August 2021, thanks in large part to the individual legal assistance provided by Legal Aid and the systemic advocacy by Legal Aid and our partner organizations. This, in a city where some 30,000 tenants are sued for eviction in a typical year, is nothing short of miraculous.

And there is no greater cause for hope in the face of inequity than the fortitude of our clients themselves. Despite oppressive challenges, they continue to strive to overcome the issues they face. Our clients seek legal assistance to save their homes from foreclosure, demand safe housing conditions as tenants, secure court protections against domestic violence, secure the public benefits they are entitled to receive, and so much more. They have testified before Council, they have adapted and attended remote Court hearings, and they continue to persevere, despite the near-impossible challenges and compounding inequities laid before them.

Yet, we are still very much on a knife’s edge. Eviction filings for non-payment of rent resumed in October for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The foreclosure moratorium ends in February 2022. Meanwhile, DC residents – especially Black residents and other residents of color – continue to struggle to access unemployment insurance, food stamps, social security, and other programs intended to help alleviate poverty. If we do nothing, we risk another wave of displacement, in a city that has already lost tens of thousands of Black residents.

As one of Legal Aid’s former clients, Chakyya Harrison, who was profiled in the Washington Post earlier this year, said: “Every year with my tax return money, it’s the same thing, too — boom, it goes to the rent,” Harrison said. “Now with the little stimmy we got — boom, goes to the rent.”

At the beginning of the pandemic, we at Legal Aid heard dire warnings that we would face serious revenue problems as donors focused on their own financial concerns. Just the opposite happened. Since March 2020, the DC legal community has come together to contribute more than $10 million to support our work – more than any two-year period in the organization’s 90-year history.

We know that, when it comes to ensuring a just and equitable recovery, we have a long, long road ahead of us. We also know that $10 million, or even $100 million, isn’t going to solve racial injustice in the District. But I can tell you that, when it comes to making a real difference in the lives of our neighbors here in DC, there is no better investment than Legal Aid. I am so proud and inspired by the work and accomplishments of our staff over this past year.

As you read through this year’s annual report, I hope you have a chance to reflect not only on the struggles of Legal Aid’s clients, but also their tenacity and courage and, truthfully, their optimism, in believing that they can change their lives for the better. Yes, we at Legal Aid provide the legal advice and representation, and we advocate at the DC Council, and work with our partners in the Courts and in government. But it is our clients who are standing up for themselves and their community and, as we say, making justice real.

Thank you for all your support, in the past, and in the future, and thank you for being with us on this journey towards a more just and more equitable DC.

Sincerely,

Joan McKown
President, Board of Trustees

P.S. We are so appreciative for our clients who, after fighting difficult legal challenges, agreed to be photographed for this report. In addition, we are grateful to Alison DeSilva, who contributed her outstanding photography pro bono to this virtual annual report for the second year.

 

Racial Inequity in the District

Legal Aid firmly believes that our mission to ”make justice real” – in individual and systemic ways – for persons living in poverty in DC is inextricably linked to our commitment to racial justice.  

America’s long history and enduring legacy of systemic racism has led to policies and practices that have both created and exacerbated the racial wealth gap, significant health disparities (such as lack of access to care and poorer health outcomes), housing insecurity, and more for Black communities and communities of color. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to deepen existing racial and economic disparities in our community. Across the District, not only are Black residents and residents of color dying from the pandemic at roughly three times the rate of white residents, they are also more likely to fall into further debt, have child custody disputes, lose their jobs, lose their homes, and face obstacles to obtaining much-needed financial assistance and other safety-net benefits.  

Through our work, Legal Aid is helping to prevent displacement of low-income residents of color by helping them fight eviction, large rent increases, and foreclosure; protecting the rights and assets of Black individuals and individuals of color by standing up with them in court on immigration, domestic violence, and debt collection issues; and increasing economic stability for families by securing unemployment benefits, food stamps, and child support orders.  

Our systemic advocacy efforts are informed by our clients’ experiences and the needs of our client community. Throughout the year, Legal Aid has continued to pursue important legislative reform, targeting policies that will have the greatest impact on reducing racial and economic injustice and inequity in our community. This has included, among other efforts, advocating for extended moratoria and other protections after the end of the District’s Public Health Emergency to protect residents from eviction, foreclosure, and debt collection during these precarious times.  

Legal Aid continued to collaborate closely with our clients and Community Advisory Council (CAC) this year on important efforts aimed at improving agency policies and procedures for communities of color. Many provided important testimony – firsthand accounts from those who needed help but for whom the system failed – to DC agencies and the DC Council this year on issues ranging from accessing unemployment benefits to health care coverage, emergency housing, and more.  

Most recently, Legal Aid, our community partners, and countless affected community members came together to advocate with the DC Council for fairer healthcare recertification requirements for our undocumented neighbors. As a result of this effort, which has been years in the making, thousands of undocumented residents who had been terminated from the DC Healthcare Alliance and Immigrant Children’s Program will be reinstated until the Department of Human Services can work through its paperwork backlog. 

CAC member Tangela Hicks provided written and oral testimony in four DC agency oversight hearings in a span of two weeks which resulted in several personal victories that will also benefit hundreds, perhaps thousands, of others.

“You all make it possible for mine and other’s voices to be heard. I am forever grateful for you all.” – Tangela Hicks

As we continue to navigate the changing landscape of the pandemic and eventual recovery, Legal Aid strives to ensure that our practice model supports deep and meaningful community engagement as we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to racial justice and equity through our work.