A stack of boxes sitting in attorney Gina Chiala’s garage reminds her of how devastating evictions can be on families.
A woman had called her in 2014, a couple years before Chiala co-founded the Heartland Center For Jobs and Freedom nonprofit law group to provide legal support to the movement of fast-food workers fighting for a living wage.
“She was evicted from her house,” Chiala said of the fast-food worker and movement participant. “She didn’t have anywhere to put her stuff … and then she never was able to regain her footing in a way where she came back and got it.”
It was a struggle she’d heard over and over from the fast-food workers who were striking for a living wage. Being focused on consumer and employment law, Chiala didn’t know how to help them navigate eviction proceedings.
“I tried to find attorneys to help them,” she said. “And what I concluded is that there really weren’t any.”
Across the country, 90% of landlords have access to attorneys during eviction proceedings, compared to 1% of tenants, according to estimates from the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel.
But that’s about to change in Kansas City, thanks to the research and coalition-building that Chiala and her Heartland Center team helped lead this year.
On Dec. 9, the city council for Kansas City, Missouri, unanimously passed one of the most aggressive “right to counsel” ordinances in the country to ensure any Kansas City resident facing an eviction has the right to an attorney, similar...
The Daily Telegraph removed a false report claiming President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened to "invade Israel," issuing an apology after the story spread through Israeli media. Senior editor Pau...