And Housing for All: The Fight to End Homelessness in America, argues that to end homelessness the United States must recognize housing as a basic human right.
Available June 3, 2025.
And Housing for All: The Fight to End Homelessness In America
Prometheus Books.
A groundbreaking legal advocate argues that only by recognizing housing as a fundamental human right can we hope to solve America’s homelessness crisis.
In And Housing for All, Maria Foscarinis reveals the human impact of this crisis sharing personal stories and examining the flawed policies that have perpetuated it. As millions face rising housing costs and encampments spread nationwide, she uncovers why past efforts have failed and what must change to achieve lasting solutions.
Drawing from over 35 years of national advocacy, Foscarinis shares compelling stories of individuals and families impacted by homelessness, highlighting their resilience and growing leadership. Blending personal narratives with policy analysis, she reveals how deliberate decisions have fueled the crisis and how public narratives have sustained it.
Events:
Politics & Prose, Union Market
Maria Foscarinis in conversation with Pam Fessler, former NPR poverty correspondent.
June 12 2025, 7 pm.
Advance Praise:
“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
“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.
"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
Set to be published June 3, 2025 by Prometheus Books. the book is available for pre-order. Foscarinis is represented by Andy Ross, of the Andy Ross Literary Agency. Her publicist is Michelle Blankenship.
Foscarinis is the founder of the National Homelessness Law Center (formerly known as the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty) and served as Executive Director since founding the organization in 1989 until March 2021. Foscarinis has published and lectured widely, is frequently quoted in the media, and is an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School.