November 6, 2019 by Clarissa Ayala
Lone Star Legal Aid’s Equitable Development Initiative Accepts Texas Housers Award
Austin, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid’s Equitable Development Initiative accepted the Texas Housers Award at its annual luncheon in Austin on Tuesday, November 6, 2019. The award “recognizes Texans who, through their work on behalf of housing and shelter, are dedicated to achieving a just and caring society that ensures all people a decent home in a quality neighborhood.”
“Place Matters and where a person lives is one of the greatest determinants of his/her ability to flourish and succeed.” – Marty Orozco, Directing Attorney
The Equitable Development Initiative’s goal is to provide legal assistance to foster community revitalization in low-income neighborhoods by fighting systemic discrimination and degradation and by helping residents create safe, decent and equitable living spaces. The Civil Rights Act and government agency rules and regulations are among the advocacy tools EDI uses to fight the inequities in the communities it serves.
The team, as a whole, works on community advocacy, environmental justice issues, and fair housing issues. Accepting the award on behalf of Lone Star Legal Aid, was Kimberly Brown Myles, Managing Attorney of the team’s community advocacy and fair housing components. In the last year, Myles and her team, along with renowned housing lawyers Laura Beshara and Mike Daniel, filed two high impact cases against the Department of Housing and Urban Development for their failure to hold project-based apartment complexes accountable for the habitability of their units. These cases are among several other projects that Lone Star Legal Aid has partnered with Texas Housers on.
“Folks deserve to raise their children in diverse, high opportunity neighborhoods. Although we have much work to do, we endeavor to keep these ideals in mind each day. The Housers award inspires us to keep striving toward this goal. We are truly humbled by the recognition,” says Myles.
Texas Housers’ mission is to support low-income Texans’ efforts to achieve the American dream of a decent, affordable home in a quality neighborhood. They believe that Texas’ critical low-income housing and community development needs can best be solved through a public-private partnership led by the initiative of low-income Texans and supported by the government, the private sector, and the general public.
Lone Star Legal Aid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy on behalf of low-income and underserved populations. Lone Star Legal Aid serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines that reside in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties of southwest Arkansas. Lone Star Legal Aid focuses its resources on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic stability; preserving housing; improving outcomes for children; establishing and sustaining family safety and stability, health and well‐being; and assisting populations with special vulnerabilities, like those who have disabilities, or who are elderly, homeless, or have limited English language skills. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at www.lonestarlegal.org.
Media contact: Clarissa Ayala, cayala@lonestarlegal.org.
Photos provided by: Samantha Guzman
