T h e Qu a r t e r l y Ne w s l e t t e r o f L e g a l S e r v i c e s o f C e n t r a l N e w Y or k — F a l l / W i n t e r 2 0 1 8
LSCNY Sponsors Author Matthew Desmond’s Visit to Syracuse Matthew Desmond Visit
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LSCNY Brings Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Matthew Desmond, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, and More Than 800 People Together to Fight Housing Instability By Wendy Rhodes, Director of Development Eviction is a major challenge in our region. Over half of Syracuse residents rent their homes, and 58% of them have a housing cost burden. This means they spend more than 30% of their income on housing, leaving less money for food and healthcare and often putting them in the difficult position of having to choose which bills to pay each month. Upwards of 11,000 Syracuse residents face eviction each year, and throughout Central New York these numbers climb higher. Eviction is a significant contributor to housing instability and a challenge that we need to take on as a community. This July-October we challenged communities throughout Central New York to read and discuss the brilliant, eye opening, and heartbreaking book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Princeton University sociologist Matthew Desmond. The New York Times declared “…an exhaustively researched, vividly realized and, above all, unignorable book — after “Evicted,” it will no longer be possible to have a serious discussion about poverty without having a serious discussion about housing”. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the
“...decent, affordable housing should be a basic right for everybody in this country. The reason is simple: without stable shelter, everything else falls apart.” –Matthew Desmond