David Pope

David graduated with honors from Davidson College, where he majored in English.  He was elected junior class president, tutored special needs students, served as a camp counselor for disabled teenagers, and worked with Senator Fritz Hollings to support the shrimp industry in South Carolina.  In the last two years, David studied refugee issues in Scotland, worked with indigenous populations in New Zealand, and spent a summer crewing a salmon boat in Alaska.

Field placement: Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Boston, Massachusetts

David researched and promoted food stamp participation for elderly and disabled populations of Massachusetts.  He performed in-office outreach to advocates and legal service providers and conducted outreach seminars at elderly and disabled community centers, residential facilities, and group living homes.  He also promoted the second phase of a food stamp enrollment program that extends benefits to low-income seniors, and collaborated with state officials to advocate for increased food stamp participation.

Policy placement: National Coalition for the Homeless

Washington, D.C.

David worked to ensure the civil rights of people experiencing homelessness by researching violence against people experiencing homelessness and the criminalization of homelessness in U.S. cities, speaking at national news conferences and community gatherings, and consulting  with law enforcement and other officials on new systems that identify and process hate crimes against people experiencing homelessness.

Publications