NLIHC will honor Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-MO) at our 41st Annual Housing Leadership Awards Celebration on Wednesday, March 22, from 6:30 to 8 pm at the Hilton Washington DC Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, D.C. Congresswoman Bush will receive the 2023 Edward W. Brooke Housing Leadership Award for leading a movement to guarantee housing for all. In her first term in Congress, she introduced legislation to end homelessness by 2025, led a demonstration on the steps of the U.S. Capitol that successfully called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend the eviction moratorium, and introduced legislation to permanently implement an eviction moratorium throughout the pandemic. The Brooke award is named for Senator Edward Brooke (R-MA), who as a U.S. senator and later as chair of the NLIHC board of directors championed low-income housing. The celebration will also honor John Parvensky and the organization Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico. Donate to NLIHC in these leaders’ honor as an individual or as an organization.
Congresswoman Cori Bush is the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress from Missouri. She is a registered nurse, community activist, organizer, single mother, and ordained pastor representing the people of Missouri's First Congressional District. As a person who has experienced housing insecurity, evictions, and homelessness, her lived expertise is an essential component of her leadership in advancing housing justice. She has championed legislation that puts racial, social, economic, health, and environmental justice front and center, knowing firsthand that our country’s housing crisis is a public health crisis we can and must end.
During her first term in Congress, Representative Bush introduced the “Unhoused Bill of Rights” – a framework for the federal government to permanently end the homelessness crisis by 2025 and provide wraparound services for unhoused community members. She also led a five-day demonstration on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, successfully calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to extend its eviction moratorium, and she introduced legislation to permanently implement an eviction moratorium during the pandemic.
Congresswoman Bush will continue to conduct oversight, push to advance policies that guarantee affordable housing for all, increase protections for renters, and hold corporate landlords accountable for harmful practices through a variety of legislative solutions in the 118th Congress.
For her leadership and commitment to advocating for the rights of renters during the pandemic, and for her commitment to ending homelessness, NLIHC is honored to present the 2023 Edward W. Brooke Housing Leadership Award to Representative Cori Bush!
In addition to recognizing Congresswoman Bush, NLIHC will present John Parvensky with the 2023 Cushing Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award for his longstanding leadership in the fight for housing and health care justice and equity as an advocate, a supportive housing developer, and a provider of health care for the homeless. As CEO of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless for the past 37 years, he led the development of more than 2,000 supportive housing units. The Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award is named for NLIHC’s founder, Cushing Niles Dolbeare, a pioneer of the affordable housing movement. Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico will receive the 2023 Sheila Crowley Housing Justice Award for its persistent efforts to ensure a just recovery – including access to safe and affordable housing – in the aftermath of numerous disasters. Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico is a non-profit organization that provides free legal education to groups and communities in the defense of fundamental rights – especially the right to housing. The award is named for former NLIHC President and CEO Sheila Crowley, who led NLIHC for more than 17 years.
Recognize these outstanding leaders by making a donation to NLIHC in their honor! Donate to NLIHC in these leaders’ honor as an individual or as an organization.
Your donation will be recognized in the Leadership Awards Celebration program, and your contribution will support NLIHC’s mission to achieve racially and socially equitable public policy that ensures people with the lowest incomes have quality homes that are accessible and affordable in communities of their choice. Information about how to register to attend the Housing Leadership Awards Celebration is forthcoming.
To learn more about the awards and for event updates, please visit: http://bit.ly/3TR14oN