That people living in or on the cusp of poverty face myriad challenges every day to secure essential necessities is not news to those of us who work in the field of poverty law. But a new report issued today by the D.C. Consortium of Legal Services Providers offers a fresh, illuminating perspective on and deeper insights into the struggles low-income District residents face to provide for themselves and their families.
The culmination of an initiative that spanned more than three years, the Community Listening Project sought to hear directly from low-income D.C. residents on the problems they face—and the strengths of the communities in which they live—in their words. The resulting study, led by Faith Mullen, a clinical law professor, and Enrique Pumar, a sociologist, both at The Catholic University of America, is a rich, qualitative analysis of focus group and survey responses from more than 700 D.C. residents whose household incomes are at or below 200% of the federal poverty guideline. Read more →