The Book
Reviews, interviews and articles about And Housing for All: The Fight to End Homelessness in America
Prometheus Books.
“A vivid and sobering overview of the ongoing homelessness crisis in America by one of the key activists leading the charge to end it, Maria Foscarinis. And Housing for All makes an impassioned argument that the right to housing should be—and in fact is—a fundamental human right. An important and eye-opening book.”
—— Gary Krist, New York Times bestselling author of The Mirage Factory, Empire of Sin, City of Scoundrels, and The White Cascade
“This book is for every American who has walked past another human being sleeping outside and wondered, how did this happen? And Housing for All shows you by guiding you down the long road of bad policy, blind neglect, and outright hostility that brought us to where we are today. The stories recounted by Foscarinis, who spent decades on the front lines in the fight for housing as a human right, will enrage you. They might also spur you to act to help eliminate this shameful, self-inflicted societal wound.”
—— Pam Fessler, former NPR poverty correspondent
“Maria Foscarinis has been a leader in the fight to end homelessness since the mid-1980s, and her advocacy has led the way for countless other advocates. From her work on the McKinney-Vento Act to her founding of the National Homelessness Law Center, Foscarinis has been tireless in her pursuit of justice for the most vulnerable Americans. And Housing for All is an important and inspiring book about an urgent social problem from a true authority.”
—— Peter Edelman, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and Public Policy at Georgetown Law Center and author of Not a Crime to Be Poor and So Rich, So Poor
“Anyone concerned about the numbers of people in the U.S. living in shelters, on the street, or doubled-up with relatives should read Maria Foscarinis' And Housing for All: The Fight to End Homelessness in America… a clear and compelling case for why housing must be recognized as a human right if we are to meaningfully address the homelessness crisis in the United States.” Read full review.
—— Ericka Taylor, NPR
"Between the pages of Foscarinis’ hard-hitting political publication, themes of pain, poverty, and unjust legislative policies are interwoven with real-life stories that expose the human side of homelessness.” Read full review.
—— Cynthia Griffith, Invisible People, April 16, 2025
“These are things that are possible.” Maria Foscarinis on her new book, And Housing for All. Read full interview.
—— Sabra Boyd, Real Change, May 28, 2025
“As homelessness rises across the United States and cities grapple with visible encampments and spiraling housing costs, legal advocate Maria Foscarinis offers a powerful new perspective in her forthcoming book, And Housing for All: The Fight to End Homelessness in America.” Full article here.
—— David Greenwald, Davis Vanguard
“Maria Foscarinis is an authority on homelessness and how to prevent and end it. She has worked tirelessly as one of the most creative minds and tenacious advocates in the field. Her book could not be more timely.”
—— Martha Anne Toll, book critic and author of Duet for One and Three Muses, and former Executive Director of the Butler Family Fund, a social justice philanthropy.
"Spanning the 40 years that straddled the start of the new millennium, Maria Foscarinis’ account of contemporary homelessness and the advocacy movement that has taken shape to contest it is the most complete view from the national perspective we are likely ever to get. In her hands, it acquires thematic continuity, historical depth, backstage political maneuvering, and a steady bassline of casual cruelty masked as rabble management. Animating her own stance is an abiding faith in the corrective power of law allied with organized dissent. Pointedly, she never lets the reader forget that both the wound and efforts to bind it are (as Harold Pinter once said) “peopled.” Source material and academic expertise are consigned to endnotes; the narrative work is event-driven, featuring named plaintiffs and their variable cast of tormenters. Threaded throughout and capping off is a spirited – and, notably, far from fanciful – defense of a social right to housing.
This warhorse of a book is a testament to movement lawyering with heart, head, and stamina."
—— Kim Hopper, Professor of clinical sociomedical sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, and author of Reckoning with Homelessness
“Maria Foscarinis, a decorated legal advocate and founder of the National Homelessness Law Center, explains how we got to this point [of record-breaking homelessness] in her book “AND HOUSING FOR ALL: The Fight to End Homelessness in America.”” Read the full article here.
—— Anthony Mocklin, KTAL Shrevport, Yahoo News
“These Are Things That are Possible.” Maria Foscarinis on her new book, And Housing for All. Read full interview.
—— Sabra Boyd, Real Change, May 28, 2025
“Between the pages of Foscarinis’ hard-hitting political publication, themes of pain, poverty, and unjust legislative policies are interwoven with real-life stories that expose the human side of homelessness.” Read full review.
—— Cynthia Griffith, Invisible People, April 16, 2025
“Homelessness advocate’s new book, And Housing for All, centers housing as a human right.” Read full article.
—-Cara Halford, Street Sense Media, May 21, 2025
"And Housing For All" is a reminder that housing should not be a commodity, but is a human right. The disdain, judgement, lack of empathy, and criminalization many experience due to housing status, especially people surviving on the streets, needs to be called out, and replaced with deeper awareness, education, and advocacy to prevent and end homelessness. This book does exactly that. As someone with the lived experience of homelessness, I remain hopeful.”
—— DeBorah Gilbert White, PhD, Homelessness Advocate, Author - Beyond Charity A Sojourner's Reflections on Homelessness, Advocacy, Empowerment and Hope
“The book’s legislative history is interwoven with personal stories, allowing the neglect to unfold as a slow burn that readers will want resolution to. Examples from Finland, Austria, Kansas City, and Houston showcase what is and isn’t working to solve homelessness. Each and every example within this analysis supports Foscarinis’s command of the subject, while her compassionate approach will spur change. Foscarinis presents a fresh and comprehensive view of housing as a human right.”
—— Library Journal
“As homelessness rises across the United States and cities grapple with visible encampments and spiraling housing costs, legal advocate Maria Foscarinis offers a powerful new perspective in her forthcoming book, And Housing for All: The Fight to End Homelessness in America.” Full article here; Podcast here.
—- David Greenwald, Vanguard News group, May 6, 2025
“New Book Details How U.S. Normalized Homelessness.” Read full article.
—— Randy Shaw, BeyondChron, June 2, 2025
“Housing insecurity undermines our democracy.” Listen to the podcast here.
—— Future Hindsight, interview with Mila Atmos, June 12, 2025
“Anyone concerned about the numbers of people in the U.S. living in shelters, on the street, or doubled-up with relatives should read Maria Foscarinis' And Housing for All: The Fight to End Homelessness in America… a clear and compelling case for why housing must be recognized as a human right if we are to meaningfully address the homelessness crisis in the United States.” Read full review.
—— NPR, June 4, 2025
Other media
How Social Security “Reforms” are Keeping Disabled People in Poverty
—- Jocelyn Figueroa, Invisible People, May 14, 2025
Two graduates, one mission
—- Marie DeNoia Aronsohn, Barnard Magazine, Spring 2025
My book recommendations: Best books about homelessness, social (in)justice, and why they matter for us all
See my recommendations on www.Shepherd.com