Law School Degree Opens Doors for Affordable Housing Advocate
Kerry Robinson, a Maida Public Interest Fellow, plans a career helping communities provide affordable housing to underserved populations.
After earning his psychology degree from Swarthmore College in 2016, Alabama native Kerry Robinson didn’t see himself going back to school. But seven years later, after working for the Chester Housing Authority, he decided to pursue a law degree.
“My mom calls me Elle Woods because I decided one day to go to law school and never said anything about it until 2022,” he says, referencing the lead character in the movie Legally Blonde. “During the pandemic, I felt like there was only so much I could do in my position at the Housing Authority. I wanted to do more, on a broader level.”
Thanks to a competitive financial aid package, and a strong selection of housing pro bono opportunities, Robinson chose Rutgers Law School in Camden.
“Originally I was going to do part time because I wasn’t sure I could support myself,” he says. “With the help of scholarships, I could dedicate my time to law school, and I had funding for two summers to pursue internships.”
For many law students, summers offer an ultimatum: gain internship experience or earn income to sustain their education. But thanks to the Maida Public Interest Fellowship, Robinson received a paid internship at Fair Share Housing Center—something rare for a first-year law student. For his second-year summer internship, Robinson worked at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia in the Lawyer of the Day program, representing tenants at landlord-tenant court.
“I got to do so much more with law school than I expected to, and it went so much better than I thought it would,” he says. “I’m truly grateful for the support I received from the Maidas. With my law degree, I better understand the political process behind providing affordable housing.”
Robinson says he was drawn to housing as a public interest concern because he saw firsthand how “having somewhere to go that’s affordable and stable—and yours—can give peace of mind and stability that help other areas of life as well.”
In September, he will begin work at Regional Housing Legal Services, a statewide agency based in Philadelphia that works alongside communities to create and protect safe, affordable homes by providing legal representation for groups serving those with low incomes.
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