If you have someone who is paying 88 percent of her income on rent, and we have laws that allow a landlord to evict a tenant who falls behind under those circumstances, eviction becomes an inevitability.
Matthew DesmondRead
Libraries are not just places where people go read a book, but places where an immigrant goes to take English lessons and where folks out of a job search for community.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Libraries serve as community hubs for education and support.
Matthew Desmond emphasizes that libraries are more than mere repositories of books; they are vital community spaces that provide essential resources and support for individuals, particularly immigrants seeking to learn English and job seekers looking for a sense of belonging. This highlights the role of libraries in fostering social connections and providing educational opportunities to those in need.
Themes
LibrariesCommunityEducationSupportImmigrants
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of community resources, you could reference this quote to illustrate the role of libraries.
More from Matthew Desmond
All quotes →Do we believe housing is a right and that affordable housing is part of what it should mean to be an American? I say yes.
Matthew DesmondRead
The texture and hardship of poverty and eviction is something that I think left the deepest impression on me, and I hope that I try to convey a little bit of that to the reader.
Matthew DesmondRead
When I was confronted with just the bare facts of poverty and inequality in America, it always disturbed and confused me.
Matthew DesmondRead
Arguably, the families most at need of housing assistance are systematically denied it because they're stamped with an eviction record. Moms and kids are bearing the brunt of those consequences.
Matthew DesmondRead
Moms that get evicted are depressed and have higher rates of depressive symptoms two years later. That has to affect their interactions with their kids and their sense of happiness. You add all that together, and it's just really obvious to me that eviction is a cause, not just a condition, of poverty.
Matthew DesmondRead
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