By Kirsten Elliott
Guest Opinion
I’ve been helping people live in affordable homes for 25 years. It pains me to say my job has never been so difficult.
Local organizations like mine are doing their best to meet rising demand, yet the federal agencies that have traditionally supported us are being hollowed out by staffing cuts, while some localities are already seeing reductions in support.
People shouldn’t count on government support, you say? Perhaps. But the sad fact is that as many as 60% of people experiencing homelessness have jobs. Wages simply haven’t kept up with housing costs.
There is currently no county or state in the U.S. where a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford a modest one-bedroom apartment. They would need to work 86 hours a week to afford such a unit, and that’s before factoring in child care, transit, health care and, most importantly, food.
The problem of housing affordability extends beyond minimum wage workers. According to research done by our partners at United Way, 42% of Michigan households struggle to meet their basic needs. This includes 14% of Michiganders who live at or below the poverty level, along with another 28% of households that struggle to keep up with the rising cost of living. United Way’s research has found that a Michigan family of four now needs $90,096 just to keep a roof over their heads while still meeting other essential needs.
The stigma of homelessness
Our public conversation about homelessness is often framed as an issue of blight rather than one that calls attention to the human toll. We hear about clearing street encampments, but not about the full-time worker who keeps a gym membership just to regularly take a shower. Closer to home, we rarely hear about children without an adequate place to sleep until two die tragically in a parking garage.
Most people experiencing homelessness are not criminals, addicts or unwilling to work. They’re facing affordability problems beyond their control. Many are couch-surfing, staying in motels or fleeing domestic violence, but they’re often excluded from official definitions of homelessness – even if they have children – so they do not qualify for housing services.
We must do better
In 1970, the United States had a surplus of 300,000 affordable homes. Today, finding an affordable home is like a tragic game of musical chairs – there are just 37 affordable homes available for every 100 low-income renters looking to obtain one. This not only leaves many people out in the cold, but it also means that some may wait six months or longer to find a place they can afford. It also means 70% of the lowest-wage households spend more than half their income on rent, putting them at high risk of becoming homeless again.
Critics of federal efforts to combat homelessness often say these efforts don’t work. But few mention the main reason they aren’t working: the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is funded at levels that only allow 1 in 4 people who qualify for housing assistance to actually receive it.
Even in a place as affluent as Oakland County, where my organization is based, there are people who struggle with homelessness and housing instability. This is an area where reassessing zoning ordinances can help. And while people may say “not in my backyard” when it comes to affordable housing, service sector employees need to live near the restaurants, stores and other amenities that make these communities so desirable.
Protecting what works
Much more needs to be done to solve the housing affordability crisis, but reducing federal support without alternative solutions in place will be catastrophic. Framing homelessness exclusively as a public safety threat will do nothing to address the fact that wages aren’t keeping up with housing costs, which means millions of families will continue to struggle to stay in their home.
Permanent housing, wraparound services that help people overcome ongoing challenges and prevention measures that help families before they lose their homes have all been proven effective in fighting homelessness. But these are the very programs now under threat.
We can only hope that recent staffing cuts at HUD won’t paralyze the flow of billions in federal funds to local communities that desperately need this support. And we must hope that the programs effectively keeping people in homes won’t be cut without viable alternatives in place.
We cannot afford to go backward
Homelessness is a problem that extends well beyond encampments and tent cities and beyond those grappling with mental illness or drug addiction. It increasingly stems from affordability – high housing costs and interest rates, construction costs and rental rates – and it’s increasingly affecting working families and individuals whose wages simply don’t keep pace with the high cost of living.
To the extent there are people living on the street, we must remember that they are someone’s son, daughter, father or mother … and they should be treated as human beings, not blight.
Beyond that, it is critical that we recognize the housing crisis we face today is much bigger than this. If 42% of our Michigan neighbors are struggling to meet their needs, reducing government support further without alternatives in place will be catastrophic – not just to those in need, but for all of us.
Kirsten Elliott, CEO and president at Community Housing Network, a leading housing resource nonprofit organization in southeast Michigan that serves thousands of families and individuals annually who are facing homelessness, people with disabilities, low-income households and other vulnerable Michigan residents.
