Connecting Health and Home: Medical and Legal Professionals in Conversation

Having secure housing makes all the difference to individuals and public health. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, elected officials and local leaders stressed the importance of everyone having a safe and secure place to call home to prevent viral spread. The federal and state governments passed moratoria on evictions, thus ensuring that families and residents could remain housed and thereby slow viral transmission. Our unhoused neighbors, however, were unable to safely isolate, quarantine, or even wash their hands. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, those living without housing experienced higher rates of hospitalization, medical emergency, and injury.