Vallen Solomon

While still a law student at Seattle University, Vallen Solomon worked with legal and social service providers to co-design a multi-prong effort to prevent youth homelessness that was connected to evictions. He strived for rights-based education, flexible funding, service coordination, upstream interventions, and legal services that were both affirming for young people and that went beyond the eviction court.

This effort was an innovative approach to address the specific disproportionate impact of evictions on Black mothers. In 2016, Harvard Sociologist Matthew Desmond won a Pulitzer for his book Evicted, detailing how eviction, largely ignored as a driver of poverty, was having a massive impact on millions of Americans. The following year in Seattle, a study revealed eviction to be both pervasive and disproportionately affecting Black female renters (4.5 times as likely to be evicted as their White peers). It also revealed that it was all too common for courts to issue default, penalty, and fine-infused, judgments against renters. What caught most people’s attention though was how common it was for evictions to take place over unpaid rent of $100 or less.

Given that evictions were arguably the single greatest pathway into homelessness, it became imperative for any community seeking to end homelessness to focus on evictions. However, though young adults, and particularly Black mothers, were being impacted by evictions, there was little focus on how to protect younger renters from ending up homeless. Data, experience, and young people themselves painted a picture that traditional court-based eviction measures wouldn’t be enough. Young people were less likely to challenge their evictions in court, more likely to just accept it (or negotiate some more time before moving out), and were deeply impacted by a record that showed only an eviction with no positive rental history. It is a perfect set up for long term homelessness. The effort that Vallen co-designed was designed to address this issue and prevent homelessness from starting in the first place. And, as the United States prepares for a post-moratorium wave of evictions, his work will be even more critical.

Vallen went to law school because of lawyers’ power to help clients get or keep basic necessities like housing, education, and government benefits. He had always interacted with young people, including a stint working at a museum creating materials for children and young adults. Early in law school, he interned at the public defender’s office, representing young adults charged with various offenses. “It felt like a natural progression of my passion and work to practice law with the aim of helping young people directly,” explained Solomon. He also worked on consumer debt relief for a legal services agency.

His background in criminal justice and debt relief came together when he started interning at the King County Bar Association’s Housing Justice Project, where he worked with numerous agencies to create the Young Adult Eviction Prevention Program. After graduation in 2020, Vallen was awarded a coveted Equal Justice Works Fellowship to continue doing this work for two years after law school, where he partnered with Legal Counsel for Youth and Children to not only address evictions, but to also help young people address other civil legal issues involving public benefits, restitution, court fees, and domestic violence.

While this work has a broader impact, Vallen’s advocacy directly impacts individual young people. In one case, a young adult and their family were facing an imminent eviction process. Vallen and his team intervened and connected the client with rental relief, preventing any eviction and allowing the young person and his family to remain housed indefinitely. It took an extended period of time with close work between Vallen and the client to get to this outcome, but the impact was undeniable. Many other young people have been similarly helped by this project.

Vallen’s view on eviction policy is clear and grounded in the research. “If I could, I would abolish evictions,” he said emphatically. He noted the data showing the disproportionate on impact women of color. Importantly, he cited studies showing that most individuals who are evicted become homeless shortly after, with only 12.5 percent of those people evicted able to find immediate housing. The work done by his organization in partnership with others has led to successful legal reforms, with greater tenant protections as well as increased funds available to stabilize housing.

While he finds the eviction process dehumanizing and counterproductive, his view of his clients and the role that attorneys play is quite the opposite. “My clients have taught me various things,” Solomon explained, “but two that stand out are patience and perseverance.” The patience and perseverance shown by clients is an important lesson for lawyers. “Sometimes you lose cases, and it can be disheartening, but with perseverance and patience there can be a way to navigate the system to find a more favorable solution . . . for your client if you are creative and determined enough.”

Vallen’s day to day work of zealous advocacy for young people stands in contrast to the quiet, more introspective nature of his non-work time. When he’s not in his virtual office, he’s focusing on photography (or reading photography books), exploring a newfound love of furniture and interior design, listening to music, or watching documentaries.

It’s not disconnected, however, from the reality he’s advocating for with his young clients. The serenity of his non-work passions requires a stable place to be. Vallen is striving to keep his clients from the chaos of losing their home, so that in addition to focusing on their education, families, and work, they can have the time and space to pursue the life passions that are so critical to the wellbeing of every young person.

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