The Housing Justice Program hosted the third annual Housing Justice Summit at Rutgers Law School in Camden on October 24. Some 150 attorneys, advocates, community members, and students gathered in the Camden Campus Center for a full-day Summit to discuss housing inequity and interdisciplinary strategies to address barriers to secure, healthy, and affordable housing.
Held for the first time in South Jersey at the Rutgers-Camden campus, the Summit showcased the work of the Rutgers Housing Advocacy Clinic, led by Housing Advocacy Clinic Director Sara Lynch. The Clinic provides eviction defense and related representation to dozens of tenants facing housing instability. The Summit also showcased the work of the Housing Justice Project (HJP), led by Managing Attorney Ashley Maddison, that provides direct client representation, develops community education programming, and promotes critical policy reforms to protect tenants from unjustified evictions. The move to Camden underscored the widespread reach of housing injustice across New Jersey communities and within our sister-city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, demanding collective commitment and shared action.
The morning began with welcome remarks by Dean Johanna Bond, who highlighted Rutgers Law School’s nationally recognized clinical programs and their strategic partnerships across university campuses and with community groups--an embodiment of Rutgers Law School’s goals in action. The featured speaker, Al-Tariq Witcher, Managing Director of External Affairs at Fair Share Housing Center, discussed the 50th anniversary of the Mount Laurel Doctrine, which requires that each New Jersey municipality provide its fair share of affordable housing. State Senator Troy Singleton offered remarks about legislative efforts to ensure that every New Jersey resident, regardless of their income, background, or zip code, has access to a safe and affordable home.
Social Justice Scholar Mychaela Purnell ’28 attended the Summit. She said, “I enjoyed hearing New Jersey State Senator Troy Singleton discuss access to safe, clean and affordable housing. As someone new to New Jersey, it's reassuring to know that elected officials care and are making tangible steps to help create affordable housing for all.”
The first panel, moderated by Housing Justice and Tenant Solidarity Clinic Co-Director Greg Baltz, featured Lauren Herman, Legal Director of Make the Road New Jersey; Victor Monterrosa, Jr., Lecturer and Managing Director of the Rutgers Housing Justice & Tenant Solidarity Clinic in Newark; and Viktoria Zerda, Supervising Attorney and Clinical Faculty Fellow of the Rutgers Expungement Law Project in Camden. Professor Baltz reflected on the recent passing of housing advocate and former Rutgers Law clinic Professor Joan Pransky, linking today’s housing justice efforts to her leadership in advancing New Jersey’s landmark pro-tenant reforms of the 1970s and for decades after. Panelists followed his remarks with a discussion around representing and organizing with immigrant tenants.
The afternoon featured two concurrent sessions: a panel on “The Architecture of Inequality” moderated by Rutgers Law Assistant Clinical Professor Sara Lynch, which explored systemic solutions for housing justice; and a tenant organizing workshop, led by Seton Hall Law Professor Abdul Rehman Khan, which focused on centering tenant-led movements in the fight for housing equity. Panelists included Katharine Nelson, Assistant Director at Rutgers Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity (CLiME); Kadeem Morris, Co-Managing Attorney in the Housing Unit at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia; Sari Bernstein, Senior Attorney at the Public Interest Law Center; and Joseph Johnson, civil rights attorney within the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) Policy Unit. The workshop featured Tanisha Garner, President of the Homes for All Network; Ruchi Behera, Pro Bono Fellow for the City of Newark at McCarter & English; and Dorian Bernard, Multimedia Storyteller and Designer.
The final panel, moderated by HJP Managing Attorney Ashley Maddison, highlighted how collaboration across disciplines can deepen and strengthen our collective advocacy. Panelists included Rev. Neil Raman, MDiv Rector of Grace Church in Haddonfield; Kimberly McGuinness, MS/ANP-C Clinical Instructor Rutgers-Camden School of Nursing; Michelle Ayers, MLS Tenant Advocate and Retiree; Julie C. Tozer, MLS Branch Manager Nilsa I. Cruz-Perez Downtown Branch; and T’Keyah Hose, Licensed Clinical Social Worker for the Camden County Library System.
Iris Wei ’26 said, “The Housing Justice Summit was a great opportunity to gain lawyering insights from professionals, and it was inspiring to learn how community members advocate for tenants and protect their rights to healthy, affordable, and stable housing.”
Click here to view the photo gallery from the Summit
One of the goals of the Rutgers Law Strategic Plan is to deepen connections with our communities through our clinical programs. Our strategy is to strengthen relationships with community members and key constituencies to ensure that clinical offerings are informed by and responsive to community needs. Click here to learn more about our Strategic Plan.