I've done this presentation, or variations of it, a number of times in the past, and I'm intimately familiar with the topic, as well as the many of the questions that arise in an audience when we're presenting it. For most of the questions that come my way, I am able to offer some guidance and options for folks, but perhaps the most important two questions we're asked during the presentation I'm often at a loss to provide adequate answers for. So what are these questions, you ask?
For those of you who work in my field, you already know the answer and are probably shouting it at your computers right now, but for those who do not, I'm paraphrasing a bit here, but it goes something like this:
"We all get that Housing-First outreach is the way to go, but we don't have any housing to offer folks, and even if we did, we don't have vouchers or the money necessary to get them into the housing that might be available. How do we fix that, oh great gurus of outreach training? Huh? HUH?"Yes, this is indeed the $64,0000 dollar question, isn't it? Because if we had good, viable answers for these two questions, much of our homelessness would end, coming to a screeching halt pretty much overnight. The bad news here is that there aren't a lot of easy answers, and to achieve both a supply of affordable housing and a means to pay for both the units themselves and the rent that is charged for the individual without an income - especially in terms of sustainability of those payments - takes a lot of thought, partnerships, hard work, diligence, persistence and perseverance.
The research I'm doing around the barriers and challenges to affordable housing at the moment aren't creating any real sense of excitement for me that things are getting better for folks, either.
The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agency considers housing "affordable" if it costs less than 30 percent of a family's income. So, if you're living in a residence that costs you $700 a month, you'd need to be earning somewhere in the neighborhood of about $2,300 a month, or around $28K a year to actually "afford" it.
To make $28K a year, you'll need to be earning about $13.50 an hour, and if you want to take home $28K a year, you'll need to earn about $16.50 an hour. There was a report done some years ago here in Nashville by Vandy Proff Melissa Snarr who set the "living" wage in Nashville at about $10.35 an hour. That number has since jumped to $11.50. For many struggling to find affordable housing, the typical hourly wage paid in the Nashville area for the kind of work that is usually available to them doesn't come close to what is needed to survive.
So what's the difference between a "living" wage and a "minimum" wage?
Living Wage
According to Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary, living wage is defined as a wage sufficient to provide the necessities and comforts essential to an acceptable standard of living. With an ideal living wage, an individual working 40 hours per week (2,080 hours per year) would be able to afford food, child care, medical, housing, transportation and other expenses for his family if he is the sole provider.
Minimum WageAnd by the way, if you've found yourself an apartment at $700 a month in many American cities, consider yourself damned fortunate, since the median rental price in the US is $1,218, according to the January 2012 Zillow Rent Index (ZRI). In my current hometown of Nashville, TN, there are some one bedroom apartments available around this price, but if you need two bedrooms, you'll be paying considerably more, just about anywhere in the country.
According to Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary, minimum wage is defined as a wage fixed by legal authority or by contract as the least that may be paid either to employed persons generally or to a particular category of employed persons. In the U.S., minimum wages are set both nationally and statewide.
Most of us know damned good and well that there are very few of folks out there in poverty who are actually falling within this 'affordable' housing designation, and typically the few who do are those who are receiving a Section 8, VASH, or Shelter Plus Care voucher to make it so. I think this holds pretty true as well for a whole buncha folks in the working and middle class as well. I think those folks, when they're able, try to buy something that both escapes the "low income" housing they are forced into and allows them to experience a piece of "the dream." If that means they spend more on their housing, than "affordable" be damned.
But one has to reach the point where they're able to first get some housing so that they can stabilize, begin the efforts to improve their situation, whether through education, employment or a combination of both. And unless you're born into a family that puts the silver spoon in your mouth, or are particularly lucky in the limited opportunities that present themselves to those without education or connections in the wealthy sphere of influence within our country, you're going to need both employment and education in order to achieve some semblance of 'the dream."
In the meantime, folks are going to need something that tides them over, and that's where the problems begin for them, because finding resources to help a city deal with trying to increase the supply of affordable housing ain't easy. Purchasing, building and/or renovating multiple dwelling homes or apartments is costly. There's pushback in just about any neighborhood, as residents come out in force to keep 'those people' from locating nearby and supposedly lowering the property values while - again supposedly - generally destroying the neighborhood with their 'bad behavior."
Developers don't jump at the chance to build affordable housing, either, since their profit margin is tiny or non-existent compared to building higher end homes and condos. But one of the "primary reasons " affordable housing is sparse, according to HUD, is due to
"local government policies that increase building costs and/or restrict the supply of housing."So how then, can we work to increase the available supply of affordable housing? PolicyLink has a pretty nifty toolkit that lays out what's needed:
"Creating housing opportunities located near jobs, transit, schools and other neighborhood amenities for residents of all incomes is key to building prosperous regions. Strategies can Protect Tenants and Rental Housing; Stabilize and Improve Neighborhoods; Promote Community and Resident Ownership; Leverage Market Activity; Generate Capital; and Expand the Affordable Housing Stock."I won't pretend to tell you I know this information like the back of my hand, because I don't. I was more concerned with pointing the folks on the street to the folks who rented the housing. It was only when I realized that we didn't have any housing within reach of most of the folks I know who are eking out their existence with day labor or low-wage jobs. Now, I want to make sure YOU know it's available so that you're not scratching your head wondering where even to begin when this issue of increasing affordable housing arises in your community; because it does on a regular basis.
To be sure, there are other resources available, and one of the critical "must have" items is the National Low Income Housing Coalition's Advocate's Guide. Also essential is spending some time with the good folks from the Pathways to Housing 100,000 Homes Campaign, Becky Kanis and Linda Kaufman. Becky and Linda are easy to reach and want - WANT - to help your community increase its supply of affordable housing. They do this by raising awareness of the impact a community suffers when people in it are living homeless and prioritizing those who create the biggest impact to that community.
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| http://welcometocup.org/Projects/EnvisioningDevelopment |
The Center for Urban Pedagogy has some nifty info as well that's worth checking out, too, and helps to demystify the process.
Another resource I would point you to comes from the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council's website, "The Advo-Kit." This is a critical resource because it helps dispel the myths and stereotypes associated with persons experiencing homelessness. Half the battle is raising the knowledge level of the general public to understand the causes of homelessness and the people who are experiencing it and until that is addressed, the battle for affordable housing has a much steeper climb.
There are undoubtedly more good resources available, as I know there are a number of people and organizations that are currently engaged in creating toolkits and curriculum's designed to help those interested in increasing affordable housing in their own communities. The resources I've provided here are simply a start, and even if you're not actively involved in ensuring affordable housing is available in your area, it behooves you to know the challenges and the benefits of increasing the stock, since the lack of housing directly affects you and your community, whether you want to believe it or not.
I won't kid you either, increasing the stock of affordable housing in a given area is challenging. It can be demoralizing and disheartening work as well, since the results of the effort take time to realize. But for those of us who're watching our brothers and sisters die on the streets, we're running out of time, which is a luxury we simply don't have anymore....
Pathways to Housing
100,000 Homes Campaign
PolicyLink Affordable Housing Tool Group
National Low Income Housing Coalition Advocate's Guide
National Healthcare for the Homeless
Advo-Kit
Center for Urban Pedagogy
Envisioning Development
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