201 N Charles Street, Suite 1104 | Baltimore, MD 21201 | 410.685.6589
Our Mission
HPRP's mission is to end homelessness in Maryland by providing free legal services, including advice, counsel, education, representation and advocacy, for low-income persons who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Our staff and volunteers pursue this mission by offering legal services through outreach in shelters, soup kitchens, welfare offices, community centers and on the street. Our direct representation informs broader-based systemic advocacy and impact litigation to address the root causes of homelessness.
Our Vision
HPRP envisions an end to homelessness in Maryland.
Our History
In 1987, HPRP began under the auspices of the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service to deliver legal services to persons who are homeless or in imminent danger of becoming homeless. The program was initially a pro bono program, and the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) was an early sponsor. In August 1990, HPRP incorporated to become its own agency. Today, HPRP has a legal team of in-house attorneys and 420 pro bono attorneys, paralegals, and law students.
Recent legal successes :
-
Working with partners on an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Baltimore County to begin unwinding decades of housing discrimination against African Americans, families with children and people with disabilities
-
Working with partners to ensure Baltimore City opens cold-weather overflow homeless shelters at 32 degrees instead of zero degrees
-
Working with partners to obtain the successful passage of legislation protecting victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in rental housing
-
Working with partners to establish two new dockets in Baltimore City District Court--a Veterans Treatment Docket and a Docket for Homeless Persons
-
Working with the Public Justice Center to pass legislation that makes unaccompanied homeless youth eligible for a college or trade school tuition waiver
