If Congress won’t fix our housing crisis we must

Toy houses in a row

A 45-year-old woman living in the Ozarks was having her own housing crisis in 2015. Surrounded by Confederate flags and Trump supporters, she found me on the internet and called asking if I had any leads on where she and her son could secure housing so that she could take a VISTA job in Chicago and her 14-year-old son could utilize his full ride scholarship at a small private high school.

Months of trying to find affordable housing turned up nothing but she finally cobbled together a solution: Move with what they could fit in their car and furnish an apartment when they got here.

Life gets complicated with issues such as teenagers, disabilities, low wage jobs, parents (single or married) being gone for hours on end, and unable to pay for high-quality childcare.

Our housing crisis is severe and getting worse. The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies’ recent report paints a grim picture.

Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies

The number of renter households devoting more than half of their income to housing costs (those considered severely burdened) climbed to a record high of 11.4 million in 2014. Among renter households earning under $15,000 a year, severe cost burdens are widespread, with 72 percent falling into this category. Severe cost burdens can adversely impact the housing security of very low-income households, leaving them little money left over to pay for necessities or to cover unexpected expenses. Indeed, compared to those with similar incomes who live in housing they can afford, very low-income renters paying more than half of their income on housing in 2013 were nearly two times more likely to fall behind on their rent, were at higher risk of having their utilities being shut off due to nonpayment, and were more likely to believe that they would be evicted within the next two months—all elements of housing insecurity. 

We don’t have the time for Congress to waken from their stupor to tackle one of life’s most fundamental needs — housing. Since they won’t do it, it is up to us to create opportunities and durable new solutions.

Sharing a home with people you enjoy is the fastest way out of our housing crisis and I’m working to make that available.

That’s what I’m working on and once it gets going, people will wonder why we didn’t do this before.