Housing and Homelessness
Background
On any given night, there are 750,000 people on the streets, with somewhere between 1.3 and 2 million people experiencing homelessness over the course of a year. In a nation with as many resources as ours, and following the longest economic boom in recent history, it is hard to believe that homelessness is still such a prevalent problem. Unfortunately, our economy is now in a recession, and homelessness is again on the rise. The fastest-growing category of homeless people consists of families with children. Today, families make up about 36 percent of the people who become homeless. The typical homeless family consists of a young unmarried mother with two or three small children. Many of these young mothers are fleeing domestic violence, and most lack the work skills, access to child care, or access to jobs necessary to support their families. Current federal housing program do little to accommodate such families, forcing them to rely more heavily on overwhelmed community social services programs.
Inherently connected to the problem of homelessness is the availability of safe and affordable housing. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development rents are currently rising at an average of 1.5 times the rate of inflation, and at least 5.4 million low-income households pay more than half of their incomes for rent and/or live in severely inadequate homes. Despite such numbers, federal programs that assist low-income people in finding suitable housing are consistently attacked, both through funding cuts and tougher program restrictions. Many Members of Congress feel housing programs have given too much to the poor and waste too many federal resources, and instead advocate policies that would raise the amount a tenant must contribute to rent, decrease construction of new affordable housing, or reduce residents' participation in decisions affecting their homes.
Legislative Summary
Housing Assistance
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides several services for those seeking affordable housing. For example, Section 8 housing vouchers provide low-income families with rental subsidies which pay the cost of their rent exceeding 30 percent of their income; Section 202 vouchers provide supportive housing for the elderly; and Section 811 vouchers provide rental assistance to the disabled. HUD also runs special initiatives such as the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program. HOPWA is aimed at housing people with HIV/AIDS, whose overwhelming medical expenses often create difficulties in funding adequate, affordable housing.
Since the passage of the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act in 1987 HUD has funded programs specifically targeted to address homelessness. HUD currently provides funds for permanent and supportive housing, shelters, transitional housing and services. Based on a "continuum of care" approach, the programs seek to smoothly guide individuals from life on the streets to stable housing arrangements. The federal government also funds Health Care for the Homeless, the only federally funded program designed specifically to meet the complex health care needs of people without homes. Health Care for the Homeless projects all over the country offer an integrated, community-based approach to make sure people without homes receive the health care services they need.
National Housing Trust Fund
The National Housing Trust Fund would build, rehabilitate and preserve 1.5 million units of rental housing for the lowest income families over the next 10 years. The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2001 (S. 1248/H.R. 2349) was recently introduced by Senator Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Representative Bernard Sanders (I-VT) to establish this fund, which would serve as a source of revenue for the production of new housing, and the preservation or rehabilitation of existing housing that is affordable for low-income people.
- Housing trust funds are distinct funds established by cities, counties and states that permanently dedicate a source of public revenue to support the production and preservation of affordable housing.
- There are more than 150 housing trust funds in the United States. Thirty-six states have created these funds and the remainder are in cities and counties.
- At any given time, as many as 50 additional jurisdictions are considering the creation of a housing trust fund. These unique funds are a fundamental aspect of emerging housing policy in the United States
- More than $500 million is spent for affordable housing through these trust funds every year and this amount is increasing. On average, for every $1 committed to a housing project by a housing trust fund, another $5-$10 is leveraged in other public and private resources.
- Hundreds of thousands of housing units have been supported through housing trust funds.
- Housing trust funds support a variety of housing activities for low and very low income households, including new construction, preservation of existing housing, emergency repairs, homeless shelters, housing-related services, and capacity building for nonprofit organizations.
- Housing trust funds have demonstrated that when government makes a commitment to address critical housing needs, the ongoing dedicated source of revenue allows for more intelligent planning to address housing needs and for improved proposals submitted by the housing industry in an effort to effectively use existing resources.
- Housing trust funds enable jurisdictions to elevate their funding of critical housing needs by committing resources to a process that treats affordable housing as an essential component of maintaining healthy communities. Jurisdictions have documented increased jobs, growing sales taxes, higher property tax revenues, and many other economic benefits from the operation of their housing trust funds.
Both the Union and CCAR have endorsed the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act. National Low Income Housing Coalition spearheads the campaign to advocate for the passage of affordable housing legislation.
On April 24, 2002 religious leaders throughout the country participated in the "National Day of Prayer and Lobbying for National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act." The Religious Leaders National Call for Action on Housing is a national coalition of hundreds of prominent national religious leaders representing major faith traditions throughout the United Stated.
Become An Endorser of the National Housing Trust Fund:
Is your congregation interested in issues of affordable housing? Get more involved in the campaign for the National Housing Trust Fund. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition are seeking community endorsers for the National Housing Trust Fund.
The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Actwould establish a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund in the Treasury of the United States. The Trust Fund would be a dedicated source of funds for the development, rehabilitation, and preservation of 1.5 million units of decent, safe, and affordable housing for low-income families over the next 10 years. Trust funds support a variety of housing activities for low and very low-income households including new construction, preservation of existing housing, emergency repairs and homeless shelters. The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund would not only produce new affordable housing units but it would also provide a much needed stimulus to our economy, creating jobs and adding to the revenues of states and localities.
Become an advocate for affordable housing in your community. If your congregation is interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact outreach@nlihc.org with your congregation’s name, contact, title, mailing address, phone, fax, and email. For more information, contact RAC Legislative Assistant, Micaela Hellman-Tincher.
The Amelioration of Poverty
In addition to legislation pertaining to housing assistance, many bills that do not immediately seem relevant to homelessness and housing can aid families in becoming self-sufficient and help ensure that these families can avoid becoming homeless. As a result, it is very important to examine related issues and legislation including food stamps, the minimum wage and child, which help alleviate poverty in general, thereby decreasing homelessness and hunger.
Minimum Wage
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there is a growing disparity between income and housing costs as well a serious lack of affordable housing in America. A housing wage is what a full-time worker must earn per hour in order to afford Fair Market Rent (FMR), paying no more than 30 percent of their income. FMR are rent estimates; they include rent and cost of utilities, except telephone. HUD sets FMRs to make sure that a sufficient supply of rental housing is available to program participants (programs include: Housing Choice Voucher Program, the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program and the project-based voucher program). The national housing wage is $13.87 per hour, but the federal minimum wage is only $5.15 per hour. In 33 states the housing wage is more than twice the Federal or State minimum wage. In these states, on average, there must be more than two full-time minimum wage workers in a household in order for the household to afford a two bedroom housing unit at FMR.
In recent years, there have been continued efforts to raise the minimum wage. The minimum wage has not been increased since former President Clinton signed the Minimum Wage Increase Act of 1996, which raised it to its current level of $5.15 per hour. For more information about the minimum wage, go to the RAC's Minimum Wage issue page.
For a more detailed list of pending housing and community development legislation go to www.nlihc.org/news/legupdate.htm on the National Low Income Housing Coalition's website.
Position of the Reform Jewish Movement
The prophets themselves exhorted us to follow a long-standing tradition of hospitality among the Jewish people. According to one midrash, Abraham is judged to be greater than Job because while the latter "opened his doors to the road" (Job 31:32), Abraham left his tent to seek guests among the passers-by (Genesis 18:1-8). Furthermore, Abraham "got busy and built spacious mansions along the highways, and stocked them with food and drink, so that whoever entered ate, drank, and blessed Heaven" (Avot 1:5; Avot d'Rabbi Natan 7). More recent Jewish history, with its exiles and expulsions, is a powerful reminder of our special obligation to provide for those with no protection. The Reform Movement has been calling for increased housing resources for the past fifty years. In 1948, the CCAR passed a resolution calling attention to the, "grievous need for low-cost housing among people in low-income categories" and urging Congress to, "enact legislation for Federal subsidies to remedy this national disgrace."
In 1983 and 1984 respectively, the Union and the CCAR adopted resolutions which called for an increase in aid to the homeless. The Reform Jewish community quickly responded, establishing shelters (some within synagogue buildings), providing volunteer staff for these shelters on an ongoing basis, and forming interfaith coalitions aimed at pressuring the federal, state, and local governments to contribute their fair share to solving the problem.
In a 1989 resolution, the Union outlined a plan for contemporary commitment to increasing the availability of affordable housing and to helping provide the means for homeless people to make the transition from shelters and the street to permanent homes. The resolution suggested concrete steps for ensuring that all people are able to secure decent, affordable housing. These include:
1.Calling upon the United States Congress to develop and fully fund a national housing policy;
2. Urging members of Reform congregations to educate themselves about low-income housing and homelessness issues, and to become more involved with these issues in their local communities;
3. Encouraging continued provisions for emergency shelter and expansion of "the only long-range solution" — permanent affordable housing; and
4. Support local community non-profit development organizations focusing on low-income housing issues.
These four steps-advocacy, education, involvement, and support-are guidelines not only for Reform congregations, but for all who are working to improve the quality and availability of housing for low-income and impoverished families.
Publications
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