Perhaps that was an impetus for the regard she felt for people who didn’t have any place to live. “Maureen really liked people and understood everyone is valuable. “It would be very strange to undertake any notable advocacy on behalf of homeless persons without consulting Maureen,” Mirra recalled this week of a partnership and friendship that spanned decades. Under Howard’s leadership, the state Coalition for Homeless eventually became the lead client on the case. Mirra was lead counsel on a case that went all the way to the state Supreme Court, establishing that the state Department of Health and Homeless Services can be ordered to provide housing assistance to families when homelessness contributes to a child’s placement in foster care.Īccording to Mirra, even back then, Howard was a force to reckon with - someone he needed on his side. Michael Mirra, the retired executive director of the Tacoma Housing Authority, first met Howard nearly 40 years ago, when he worked as an attorney for what would become Columbia Legal Services, a social justice-oriented firm that represents people living in poverty. Somehow, amid all of it, she also served eight years as a Foreign Service for the U.S. More recently, Howard was a member and often the driving force behind the Tacoma-Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness. During the same period, Howard founded and led Washington’s State Coalition for the Homeless. Her mother was Joyce (or Jocasta) Legh, daughter of Sir. Starting in the early 1980s, she served as executive director of Hilltop’s Martin Luther King Ecumenical Center, where she built a program that, by the time she retired in 1992, provided direct support to 600 homeless men, women and children. This made Catherine the niece of the Duke of Norfolk, one of the most powerful noblemen in England. She was one of the rarest of people: someone who could fight like hell, tooth and nail, for what she believed was right - namely, housing, shelter and dignity for those living on our streets - while maintaining the respect and admiration of even those whose policies and actions she vehemently opposed.įor Howard, it was part of a decades-long career spent pushing for what she would describe as justice. ![]() Howard had many qualities, but perhaps two of her finest were empathy and the fire that burned inside her.
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