Struggle Against Discrimination Towards Homeless Rhode Islanders at Brown University
At Brown University, a student-led organization named Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE at Brown) is making strides in addressing discrimination against housing-insecure individuals.
Led by student, Weinstock, HOPE at Brown has been instrumental in providing an avenue for students to apply their coursework towards solving a critical social problem. Since April, Weinstock has been analysing public housing application forms for discriminatory questions and practices.
Another member of HOPE at Brown, Megan Smith, appreciates the contributions of the student body as they provide crucial support to the organization. Smith emphasises that the student ideas promote deep systemic change necessary to eradicate homelessness.
Under the name "The Community Collaborative", a team of students, led by incoming HOPE at Brown co-director Annelise Ernst, have been administering in-depth surveys to over 100 Rhode Islanders who either were or had recently experienced homelessness. The survey's purpose was to show with concrete numbers and personal testimony the many problems that service providers and outreach workers are aware of, but didn't have hard evidence to support.
Ernst's academic path has been shaped by the research and advocacy projects undertaken in her three years with HOPE at Brown. During her junior year, she participated in a Departmental Independent Study Project that enabled her to conduct research on housing discrimination based on source of income in Rhode Island.
The group's findings have been eye-opening. Black respondents were more than twice as likely as white respondents to be charged with a crime related to their homelessness. One example of indirect discrimination is when housing managers perform criminal background checks, which indicate arrests as well as convictions. Black and Latinx respondents frequently noted in their open responses that their privacy had been violated by case managers, medical providers, and government offices.
In response to these findings, HOPE at Brown students are working to share their findings with a broader audience and develop resources to help community members respond to individuals experiencing homelessness without calling the police. Weinstock intends to compile this information into a resource sheet for clients at OpenDoors.
It's important to note that Rhode Island passed a Homeless Bill of Rights in 2012, granting people experiencing homelessness the same rights, privileges, and access to social services as those who are not. However, the work of HOPE at Brown underscores the need for continued vigilance and action to ensure these rights are upheld.
The summer of 2021 has seen HOPE at Brown students working with the House of Hope Community Development Corporation on remote research projects that have uncovered instances of systemic discrimination against housing-insecure individuals. The goal of these projects is to help House of HOPE identify developments whose application processes are most amenable to housing people with criminal backgrounds.
HOPE at Brown includes over 100 students who conduct outreach and collaborate with community partners on projects that support structural reforms aimed at ensuring equitable treatment for housing-insecure individuals. The groundswell of anti-racist activism following George Floyd's killing caused HOPE at Brown to reexamine how its projects and philosophies account for the ways that race impacts homelessness.
In conclusion, the work of HOPE at Brown is a testament to the power of student activism in driving social change. By analysing and addressing housing discrimination, these students are making a significant impact in their local community and beyond.
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