Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, to speak at Poverty Forum on Sept. 28

Matthew Desmond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, will be this year’s keynote speaker for Pisgah Legal Services’ 7th Annual Poverty Forum, “Evicted: Housing Crisis in WNC,” on Thursday, September 28, 2017. The Forum will be held at UNC Asheville.

“It’s no secret that decent, affordable housing is a critically important issue in Asheville and across Western North Carolina,” said Jim Barrett, executive director of Pisgah Legal Services. “We are very excited to welcome Matthew Desmond as this year’s forum speaker. He is a brilliant sociologist and dynamic storyteller who truly understands the relationship between unstable housing and poverty.”

Desmond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, tells compelling stories of vulnerable people who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and argues that a loss of housing isn’t merely a symptom but is a direct cause of poverty.

“Last year Pisgah Legal Services helped more than 2,900 local people with serious housing crises such as unfair evictions, unlawful foreclosures and terrible living conditions,” Barrett continued. “Our forums bring attention to the struggles faced by low-income people living in our mountains to encourage activism and to generate ways that we can work together to make our communities stronger.”

Desmond will also speak on Sept. 29 at a free Affordable Housing Summit, also held at UNCA, for developers, planners, advocates and government leaders to discuss strategies needed to provide better housing in the region.

For full details, click here.