My background is in health policy and management. I have a Master’s in Public Health which has allowed me to focus my public health thought process on implementing community health prevention. I facilitated community projects as a Youth Development Intern, assisted with a systematic review of Youth Risk Behavior Survey data, presented it to the Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods, and then helped turn it into a manuscript to submit to the Journal of School Health. I did not become interested in housing until I started working on the COVID 19 eviction moratorium as a law clerk with Legal Services in South Central, Michigan. However, housing has been on my radar for a long time as a social determinant of health, but before working with RHLS, I haven’t had a chance to dive into the housing world. My public health experience helps me understand why advocating and supporting housing for low-income individuals is so important.
I have worked with RHLS as a volunteer since the beginning of 2020. I worked mainly in the policy department with Rachel Blake, Associate Director, on implementing the Violence Against Women Act’s (VAWA) housing rights in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) funded housing. I started by looking into the dissemination of information about VAWA rights in LIHTC. I learned that there is a significant lack of implementation of VAWA in LIHTC by the state agencies that administer LIHTC. However, the number of states that mention VAWA in their Qualified Allocation Plans (QAP) or Compliance Manual (CM) has significantly increased within the last five or six years. I was also part of a team, Rachel Blake and Vanessa Raymond-Garcia, both of RHLS, and Karlo Ng, Director of Legal Initiatives at the National Alliance for Safe Housing. Together, we brainstormed advocacy tools for previously vulnerable communities that became more vulnerable during COVID-19 and supported the creation of a designed website to educate advocates and survivors and to support efforts to engage in LIHTC advocacy around housing rights (the VAWA in LIHTC project).
I began my internship with RHLS in May 2021. My first goal was to work with the VAWA in LIHTC project team to draft and submit a conference session proposal to the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) Law Section about VAWA, LIHTC, and Health. The proposal was to present the findings from the VAWA in the LIHTC project and my summer research related to the VAWA in the LIHTC project.
The proposal was accepted! Vanessa and I will be presenting virtually at the APHA conference on Monday, October 25th, 2021.
My second goal is to complete a research paper where I am diving into VAWA’s housing rights in LIHTC—bringing my public health perspective to identify ways to improve survivor and advocate awareness and property manager/owner implementation of VAWA’s housing rights. The findings will be part of the APHA presentation. I also have had the opportunity to work on several smaller projects with other policy team members. For example, I have learned about lobbying with Cindy Daley and Robert Damewood and dipped my toes into issues related to inclusionary zoning and its effect on the market. I am also working with Vanessa Raymond-Garcia on a community outreach project.
Housing is a fundamental public health need. I am learning to connect my public health knowledge with housing. While the ultimate goal is to advocate for sustainable housing, the methods and initiatives can be different. A public health approach, like conducting a community health needs assessment that could lead to health in all policies, may address all social determinants with inadequate housing. My understanding of the housing approach is identifying someone who qualifies for low-income housing and thus should get said housing. I am learning how to close the gap between the two to ensure that health initiatives are recognized for those who qualify for low-income housing. As a future lawyer/health policy professional, the experience brings me improved skills for advocating and legal research, as well as connections to the legal services community. It can be hard to navigate from law student to lawyer, and I think the introductions have helped me feel more confident in my work and more confident in my career direction.