COVID-19 forced us to take our housing work from the physical world into the remote space. At the same time, it served to unite us with clients in a new way as we collectively experienced the trauma and uncertainty of the pandemic. We learned that we could connect with students, clients, and colleagues virtually - often as effective as in person. We foresee continuing to use tools such as Slack and Zoom to communicate with each other in real-time; facilitate client meetings; and offer clients a broader range of convenient, accessible, and culturally relevant services. We can also creatively use technology for tenant education or to engage in national dialogues on housing justice.
As clinical instructors, we can encourage students to embrace the strange intimacy that comes with remote work. Clients see into our homes, often seeing our children, our pets, us in our shoes-off outfits. We can see this as a chance to deepen bonds while being thoughtful as to how we may be displaying our privilege. Through Slack and text, we can share jokes and photos with our students, dismantling some of the hierarchy of legal education, building community, and creating a safe space to process secondary trauma.
The presenters will share their pandemic-related experiences using virtual or hybrid approaches in different teaching models in states with very different levels of tenant protection. They will discuss the law school coalition created in response to the Attorney General’s call to action to help those facing eviction, addressing both how the coalition has been effective and its yet untapped potential. Audience participation will be encouraged through quizzes and breakout room discussions so we may learn from each other how to harness technology to maximize housing justice.