NYU Furman Center Book Talk: Maria Foscarinis
The NYU Furman Center and Elysium Between Two Continents are pleased to host a fireside chat with the founder and former Executive Director of the National Homelessness Law Center, Maria Foscarinis, the author of And Housing for All: The Fight to End Homelessness in America with former head of the Legal Aid Society and NYC Social Services Commissioner, Steve Banks.
Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Time: 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. E.T.
Location: NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School for Public Service
105 East 17th Street, New York, NY 10012
A light lunch will be provided, and books will be available for purchase.
RSVP
Seating is limited. Virtual attendees should register via Zoom.
About the Book:
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: The Fight to End Homelessness in America, 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.
Foscarinis' book is available for purchase at the talk or at online retailers.
Buy the Book: https://www.globepequot.com/9781633889767/and-housing-for-all/
About the Author:
Maria Foscarinis is founder and former executive director of the National Homelessness Law Center (formerly known as the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty), a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., that uses the power of the law to end and prevent homelessness in the United States and to defend the rights of unhoused persons. Foscarinis has advocated for solutions to homelessness at the national level since 1985. She is a primary architect of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and has led successful litigation to secure the legal rights of homeless persons. She regularly speaks and lectures on law, public policy, and homelessness and is frequently quoted in print and electronic media.
Foscarinis is a 1977 graduate of Barnard College and a 1981 graduate of Columbia Law School, where she was Notes and Comments editor of the Law Review; she also holds a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy from Columbia’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Amalya L. Kearse on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, then joined the litigation group at Sullivan & Cromwell. She established and directed the Washington, D.C. office of the National Coalition for the Homeless before founding the Law Center in 1989.
Among other honors, Foscarinis is the recipient of the 2006 Public Interest Achievement Award from the Public Interest Law Foundation at Columbia Law School, the 2016 Katharine and George Alexander Law Prize from Santa Clara University’s School of Law, and a Rockefeller Foundation Practitioner Residency in Bellagio, Italy (2021). She was named a Human Rights Hero by the American Bar Association’s Human Rights Magazine (2019). She serves on Columbia Law School’s Public Interest/Public Service Council. In 2025, she was selected for a Fulbright US Scholar Program award to Brazil for 2026.