Amelia Parker, Knoxville City Councilwoman (at-Large Seat C), will be presented with the 2023 Local Legislator Award by the National Homeless Law Center on Wednesday, October 11, 2023 at Microsoft’s Innovation and Policy Center at 901 K St NW, Washington, DC 20001.
The non-partisan Local Legislator Award was created to recognize important work at the local level to advance policy solutions to end homelessness. Parker was selected amongst a group of nominees by the National Homelessness Law Center’s team for her leadership to decriminalize homelessness and promote solutions informed by her unhoused constituents.
“I am honored to be recognized by the National Homeless Law Center and to receive the local legislator of the year award. I strongly believe that housing is a human right and I will keep fighting for my city to abandon strategies that criminalize our unhoused neighbors and instead adopt strategies that will help us ensure as a city that all of our residents have access to safe, adequate, and affordable housing options.”
Councilwoman Parker will join the National Homeless Law Center and other attendees at this year’s Human Right to Housing Awards ceremony on Wednesday, October 11th at Microsoft’s Innovation and Policy Center at 901 K St NW, Washington, DC 20001.
Other awardees include:
Bruce F. Vento Award
U.S. Representative Barbara Lee – California’s 12th District
Stewart B. McKinney Award
The collaborators of the “Unhoused & Undercounted” series Center for Public Integrity, Street Sense Media, WAMU/DCist, and the Seattle Times
Pro Bono Counsel Award
Baker Donelson LLP
State Legislator Award
Maryland State Senator, Mary Washington
Local Legislator Award
Councilmember Amelia Parker | Knoxville, TN
Those interested in attending can register and purchase tickets at this link.
For more information on Councilperson Parker’s re-election campaign, first-term accomplishments and collaborations, and second term platform. You can visit the campaign website, here.
For more information about the National Homelessness Law Center, visit here.
About the Housing is a Human Right Awards Ceremony:
For 24 years, the National Homelessness Law Center has hosted an annual awards event to honor organizations, leaders, and changemakers that work to bring awareness to and advance the solutions to homelessness and poverty. These awards pay tribute to two outstanding national leaders: Stewart B. McKinney and Bruce F. Vento.
In 1987, the late Congressman Stewart B. McKinney was a primary sponsor of landmark legislation providing federal assistance to Americans experiencing homelessness. The late Congressman Bruce F. Vento worked in partnership with Stewart B. McKinney and served as one of the original authors of the McKinney Act. After his untimely death in 2000, the legislation was renamed the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act in recognition of Congressman Vento’s resolve to help homeless persons become self-sufficient. This Act is the first and only significant federal legislative response to homelessness. Since its passage, millions of dollars each year go to support a wide range of services and rights for people experiencing homelessness, from emergency shelter programs to education access for children. Defending these rights continues to be an important part of the work of the Law Center.
Beginning in 2022, this annual awards event’s name was changed to the Human Right to Housing Awards to reflect the direction of the movement to end homelessness and the broader work of the Law Center. The event continues to honor the work of these visionary leaders through the presentation of the Stewart B. McKinney Award, the Bruce F. Vento Award, and the local legislator award in addition to other awards.
