Jewish Family Services to host ‘Evicted’ author | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Jewish Family Services to host ‘Evicted’ author

MILWAUKEE– Jewish Family Services is bringing Professor Matthew Desmond to Milwaukee on May 16 for a luncheon event: “Home and Hope: A Community Call to Action,” focusing on the urgent need for safe and affordable housing in the city, and celebrating the nonprofit’s 150th year.

This event will be Desmond’s first public lecture in Milwaukee since winning the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City.” according to a news release.

The book exposes the vicious cycle of poverty that deepens our country’s vast inequality, according to the release. This crisis is considered one of the leading social justice issues of our time. The event’s call to action seeks to unite the people and organizations striving to make a difference in a range of areas affecting Milwaukee’s most vulnerable populations but lacking in a coordinated, collaborative action plan.

Over the past nine years, JFS’s housing subsidiary has helped over 550 individuals in need.

“As Professor Desmond describes in the book, 16,000 adults and children are evicted every year in Milwaukee, causing a ripple effect of additional challenges and hardships. This scenario is being repeated in cities around the country,” said Donna Triplett, JFS’s vice president of development and communications. “If any city should be taking the lead on this issue, it should be us.”

General admission tickets go on sale for the event in April. For more information, contact JFS at 414-225-1336 or Development@JfsMilw.org.