Who We Are

Source: "California Perspectives: Governing California in the 21st Century," The Irvine Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 13 (Winter 2005), "four out of five state residents cannot afford the median-priced home." http://www.irvine.org/publications/iq/iq.shtml.
Source: Branigan and Cho, "Fairfax Homeless Rise of 25% In 4 Years Called 'Stunning,'" Washington Post, March 5, 2002, B1, B4:

"The number of homeless people in Fairfax County [VA], one of the [Washington, DC] region's richest suburbs, is higher than ever, underscoring the need for more shelter space, programs to prevent homelessness and more affordable housing, advocates told the County Board of Supervisors yesterday." (B1)

"The total of 2,067 homeless people, counted in a special census in January, represents a 25 percent increase since the country conducted its first survey in a998 and reflects what advocates described as a trend across the Washington region. Last year, the Metropolitan Council of Governments counted 12,849 homeless people in the area, including 2,849 needing help for mental illness and 1,672 needing help for substance abuse." (B1)

"Council of Government officials said they expect higher numbers from this year's homeless survey because of an economic downturn after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." (B1)

"'It's a mark of shame for Fairfax County that there is anyone homeless, especially in a county as affluent as ours,' said Supervisor Gerald E. Connolly . . . Calling the report 'stunning,' he added that one of the most disturbing factors is the disappearance of affordable housing in Fairfax County -- a trend elsewhere as well." (B1, B4)

"Even those who qualify for housing subsidies cannot find places to live. In what advocates called a particularly alarming trend, two-thirds of vouchers issued last year in Fairfax County under a federal housing subsidy program were turned in because recipients could not find a place to rent within eight months. With rental rates rising -- the average two-bedroom apartment rented for $1,181 last year, up 14 percent from a year earlier -- many landlords refused to accept the housing vouchers, which limit their ability to raise rents." (B4)

"Children made up the largest single group of homeless counted by the county's Homeless Oversight Committee. They accounted for 41 percent, or 843 individuals, of the 2,067 homeless people found in shelters, motels, and transitional housing units and on the streets. The survey found that 44 percent of homeless single adults in families were employed."

". . . Sharon Kelso, who co-chairs the oversight group, said the survey understates the problem because it does not include the 'hidden homeless' . . . " (B4)

Source: Amon & Reel, "Low-Wage Tenants Eased Out of Market: As Section 8 Rentals Become Scarce, Md. Weighs an Anti-Discrimination Law," Washington Post, March 13, 2002, B3:

"'There's not enough affordable housing in any jurisdiction in [the National Capital region], and the biggest shortage is in rental housing,' said Deborah Povich, director of public policy for the Maryland Center for Community Development. 'The federal government has attempted to address the problem through the Section 8 program. But in many areas, the availability is so low the program isn't working the way it was meant to.'"

"As in most jurisdictions in the Washington region, the wait for a Section 8 voucher in Charles [county, MD] can be long. The county's Housing and Community Development Division is granted federal funding to provide about 680 vouchers. About 1,700 more households are on the waiting list. Other growing counties face similar situations: St. Mary's has about 460 vouchers and a waiting list of 1,085; Calvert has 251 vouchers and a waiting list of 532; and Anne Arundel, which has about four times the population of Charles County, has about 1,700 vouchers and a waiting list of about 3,800."

Even when there are vouchers available, many rental properties are advertised as "no sec. 8. . . . Landlords often say they shouldn't be forced to participate in a federal program that might complicate the payment process."

"Howard and Montgomery counties have adopted housing codes that prohibit landlords from discriminating based on the source of a tenant's income. A bill pending in the Maryland legislature would make Maryland one of 10 states to extend such a policy statewide. Some jurisdictions also require that a certain percentage of developments be designed for buyers with low or moderate incomes. Montgomery County, for example, requires that developments with 50 units or more ensure that at least 12.5 percent are affordable for households with low or moderate incomes."

Source: "Housing Crunch Worsens for Poor: HUD Aid No Match for Soaring Rents, Fewer Apartments," Washington Post, October 12, 1999, A1, A6:

"By all accounts, the nation is mired in a severe affordable-housing crisis, with record low vacancy rates, rents rising at twice the rate of inflation, interminable waiting lists for federal aid and an unprecedented 5.3 million families paying half their incomes in rent." (A1)

"We’ve still got a terrible shortage of housing in this country," said Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), chairman of a housing subcommittee. "We haven’t solved that yet." (A6)

" . . . only one in three American families poor enough to qualify for rental aid will receive it. And while the long-running economic boom has reduced unemployment to record lows, it has also raised rents to record highs, making it much harder for these families to afford housing without government help." (A6)

" . . . in recent years, developers have converted more than 100,000 subsidized apartments to market-rate housing after their 20-year government contracts expired; the average rent increase has been 50 percent." (A6)

"Take lead paint. In St. Louis, which has the fourth-oldest housing stock in the nation, the childhood lead poisoning rates are about six times the national average." (A6)

Source: Cohn and Cohn, "Census Sees Vast Change in Language, Employment," Washington Post, August 6, 2001, A1, A5:

"Overall, Americans are better-housed . . . than they were 10 years ago." (A1, A5)

Yet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Supplemental Survey, 17.3% of U.S. residents "spent at least 40 person of [their] income on housing in 2000", and 4.2% live in "crowded housing" (i.e., "where one or more people live in each room of a house not including bathrooms"). (A5)

Source: Eric Lipton, "Glittery Success in Housing, Except for Pledge to the Poor," New York Times, January 2, 2001, p. A1, A15:

Twenty-five years ago when plans for Battery Park City were conceived, some 60,000 low- and moderate-cost housing units were promised by New York's governors and mayors. "But while Battery Park City has flourished, generating tens of millions of dollars each year in revenues from leases and other sources, the low-cost housing plan has nearly disappeared, producing from 1,557 to 4,350 units of low- or moderate-cost housing in the last decade. . . " (A1)

"Since the first buildings opened at Battery Park City in the early 1980's, the [BPC] authority has turned over a total of $705 million to New York City. . . At first, there was clear evidence that the city and Battery Park City honored the housing commitments. . . "[But since then a series of factors have resulted in the anticipated low- and moderate-income housing not being built during a time when] the city population has increased and the city has lost tens of thousands of units of housing within the react of the city's poor or working class residents, according to Frank Braconi, executive director of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council." (A15)

Source: Nakashima, "HUD Secretary Focuses on Chronic Homelessness," Washington Post, July 21, 2001, A15:

"Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel R. Martinez yesterday endorsed the goal of ending 'chronic homelessness ' in 10 years and revived a federal panel aimed at improving services to the nation's homeless. . . . There are 200,000 to 250,000 chronically homeless people in the nation who live in shelters or on the streets, and most of them are disabled in some way--because of mental health problems, substance abuse, or HIV infection."

Source: "Nation in Brief--Palm Beach Homeless Don't Feel at Home," Washington Post, March 4, 2002, A8:

"The streets of Palm Beach County [FL] can be a mean place for the homeless, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. The group said the county follows a national trend of criminalizing homelessness and poverty."

"Atlanta, San Francisco, and New York were cited as the 'absolute meanest' cities for the homeless. Also listed were Salt Lake City; Austin; Chicago; Honolulu; Baltimore; Pontiac, Mich; Santa Cruz, Calif.; and Jacksonville, Fla."

Problem:   Even the backup systems that are supposed to provide shelter for the homeless sometimes fail to operate appropriately. In the winter of 2001, six homeless adults died as a result of hypothermia when exposed to cold weather in the District of Columbia, including one who was expelled from a homeless shelter and denied a blanket only hours before he died. Source: Kovaleski & Chan, "District Finds Bias Against Hispanics: Man Thrown Out of Shelter Died," Washington Post, July 22, 2001, A1, A12. Again, in 2002, two homeless men died on a cold night in early February as a result of hypothermia when shelters filled to capacity. Source: Chan & Fahrenthold, "Weather's Likely Toll Reduced From 6 to 2," Washington Post, February 7, 2002, B1.

Problem: Finding adequate housing is particularly a problem for ex-offenders leaving prison. "'At least 40 percent of those leaving the prison system have no home and are especially susceptible to committing crimes if halfway house beds are unavailable,' according to Jasper Ormond, interim director of the [District of Columbia] Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency." Source:   Santana, "Inmate Inrush Worries D.C. Officials: City Lacks Services to Aid 2,500 Ex-Offenders, Administrators Tell House Panel," Washington Post, July 21, 2001, B1, B4.

Organizations Working to Solve the Problem: Among the organizations devoted to fighting homelessness and promoting adequate housing alternatives for low income people are the:

Corporation for Supportive Housing,

National Alliance to End Homelessness,

National Low Income Housing Coalition, and

The Enterprise Foundation.

Click on each of these organizations to learn more about their programs, strategies, and recommended solutions.

Solution: Multi-State affordable housing consortia for rural housing for people with HIV/AIDS. "The Denver-based Gill Foundation ( http://www.gillfoundation.org/ ) has helped four rural states secure $2.6 million in funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (http://www.hud.gov/ ) to provide housing and rental assistance to people with HIV/AIDS. With funding from the foundation, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota formed the Tri-State Housing Environments for Living Positively and submitted a grant proposal to HUD's Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program that resulted in a $1.3 million grant. The HOPWA program provides grants for rental assistance, housing care management, and other support services primarily to new programs that do not qualify for other federal funding. The Gill Foundation provided similar assistance to the Iowa Finance Authority, which received $1.3 million from HUD to create a network of AIDS service organizations and housing agencies across the state." "Gill Foundation Helps Four States Secure $2.6 Million in HUD Grants," Foundation News Digest, April 23, 2003.

Solution: "Inclusionary zoning" is another proposed solution that is cropping up more in policy debates. Inclusionary zoning proposals "allow a developer to increase the density — the maximum number of units that can be built on a parcel — in return for setting aside a percentage of the units at prices that would be within reach of families whose income is below the region's median. . . . While some municipalities require an affordable housing component in a development if it is recommended by the county planning department, the only town 'with a definite across-the-board statute' is Huntington [Long Island, NY], said Mr. Morgo.   According to Richard Machtay, Huntington's planning director, the zoning law applies to developers requesting an increase in density within a residential zone. In that case, 20 percent of the number of units accrued by the change of zoning must be put aside for 'affordable' housing for people making 80 percent of Suffolk County's median income or less." Paquette, "Inducing Developers to Include Lower-Cost Housing," New York Times, April 13, 2003

HOME - NEXT