For the second straight year, law students and alumni teamed up to hold a one-day Housing Justice Clinic, helping residents at risk of losing their homes. Twenty clients received valuable legal counseling on issues such as the eviction moratorium, disputes with their landlords, confusing legal notices, and questions about their leases or federal housing vouchers.

As the Essential Worker Fellow, Rodriguez will work directly with food service workers who have been denied unemployment benefits or asked to repay benefits. Her role will include community outreach and direct representation of workers in hearings. The fellowship will focus on low-income communities of color who have been impacted most by the COVID-19 shutdowns.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, housing insecurity has emerged as an area where legal services can provide crucial support for vulnerable communities. That need inspired Seattle University School of Law students and staff to hold a Housing Justice Clinic as part of Pro Bono Week in October.

Lavena Staten: "The federal government deemed farmworkers essential but made their safety optional. The pandemic is exposing our country's cruel treatment of farmworkers."