Richard R. Troxell, Author of Looking Up at the Bottomline: The Struggle For the Living Wage

Looking up at the Bottomline (http://www.housethehomeless.org) is an intense personal, political, and educational guide through the last 30 years of homelessness in America. According to the US Conference of Mayors, a person working 40 hours a week, at a minimum wage of $7.25, doesn't have enough money to afford a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States. Again, "The problem points to the solution." LOOKING UP AT THE BOTTOM LINE offers the solution: The Universal Living Wage (ULW). The ULW adjusts the federal minimum wage, and indexes it to the local cost of housing throughout the U.S. By doing so, any person who works 40 hours a week is able to afford basic rental housing (including utilities) along with food and clothing. Richard R. Troxell is President of House the Homeless, an educational and advocacy group that was founded in Austin, TX in 1989. Their mission is education and advocacy surrounding all issues of homelessness. Richard has been striving to end homelessness since he first saw it come into existence as a mortgage foreclosure preventionist in Philadelphia in the 1980s. Today, he is the Director of Legal Aid for the Homeless where he has daily interaction with the disabled homeless citizens of Austin, Texas. His work has been recognized by HUD, Texas Governor Ann Richards, the Pennsylvania Senate and the United Nations. He has also received the Five Who Care Award and the JC Penny Golden Rule Award, among countless others. Having designed a paradigm change for homeless service delivery, he secured $100,000 from former Texas Governor George Bush for the jobs component.