The End of the Line

In 1997, the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute issued a wake-up call to housing authorities across the state with a video documenting a long line of people — women and men, most with children; people with disabilities; people in wheelchairs; young and old — all waiting to apply for a Section 8 voucher in Fall River, Massachusetts. This was not a line for housing. It was a line for an application for housing. With this video as evidence, MLRI filed an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), claiming that the Fall River Housing Authority's procedures discriminated against people with disabilities. The result: The Fall River Housing Authority agreed to use a lottery system to level the playing field and Boston's HUD office issued guidelines to all Massachusetts housing authorities with Section 8 programs about how to open waiting lists using a lottery system to avoid legal and practical problems. End of the Line was created by Massachusetts Law Reform Institute in 1997. It was filmed, produced, and directed by Ferrini Productions. Learn more about Mass Law Reform www.mlri.org.