Personal Narrative Essay On Affordable Housing

The National Law Center on Homelesness and Poverty. “Homelessness stems from a lack of affordable housing. Increasing rents, destruction of traditional low-income housing, and cuts in federal housing programs threaten affordable housing with extinction.”

One of the causes of homelessness in Baltimore City is lack of affordable housing, this includes subsidized housing from the state. Lack of affordable housing in Baltimore City is due to an increase luxury housing and Baltimore’s decrease desire for rental housing (Mayor’s Office of Human Services, 2013). Available housing is not proportional to the wages of people living in Baltimore City. Nearly half of renters in Baltimore spend 35% of their income or more on their rent. The waiting list for Baltimore City opened in 2014 and 74,000 households applied for 25,000 available slots for up to six years to own a voucher (“Homelessness in Baltimore,” 2017). For the extremely poor population there are only 42 available homes for over 100 people who identify with the population (Public Justice Center, 2015). Therefore, Baltimore needs to make affordable housing for their population or there should be an increase in jobs and wages. However, the private sector is not interested in developing houses for the low-income population because it is not profitable compared to selling a building to a company to make luxury housing (Richman, 2015).

Around two-thirds of Americans with low-income qualify for government assistance, yet they aren’t getting it. Instead, they must wait in lists ranging from 3 to 5 years long in order to receive help. This article, written by Andrew Flowers, delves into the housing assistance crisis and the two problems that cause this: affordability as well as the lack of funding and ineffectiveness of government programs.

In order to help meet housing needs for struggling families, the United States Government, through the Housing and Urban Development (HUD), provides benefits to help those families pay rent and support their own homes through the Section 8 Housing Subsidy Program. Carlson, Haveman, Kaplan, and Wolfe (2011) found that an estimated 5.2 million Americans rely on the housing vouchers, and the vouchers help “very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market” (p. 233). The family or individual is able to lease a rental home with the help of the voucher and the voucher amount depends on the family’s income.

Several decades ago, housing was affordable; now it’s impossible for even the middle class to buy a decent home. Housing in California is very expensive, and this is one reason why California suffers the highest rate of homelessness in the country.In an online article written by the Mercury News they express that the median income in California is much higher than the nation’s average, however, it does not measure up the steadily increasing rate of rent.(2017) Lack of affordable housing has lead to high rent, overcrowding, and substandard housing. This can force many people to become homeless. Besides the lack of affordable housing that California is experiencing, there are also not enough homes for the state’s population. An online article written by the SacBee, explains that the population in California is increasing while housing construction is decreasing, due to funds and inexperienced construction workers(Aug 2017.) If California is unable to provide housing for it’s residents, this could lead people on the streets, having no where else to

Fewer people are being institutionalized and treated for their illnesses, meaning they are often unable to work or take adequate care of themselves. These individuals are left with one viable option: to live on the streets. Not only does neglect to receive care contribute to the “chronic” homeless issue in America, but the tighter housing markets add to the inability to afford low-income housing (Quigley and Steven 333). Often times these individuals are on a government supplemented income or no income at all. Even with the aid, low-income housing is either unavailable or still unaffordable. Quigley and Steven believe that “homelessness can be reduced by attention to the better functioning of housing markets.” In order to get Americans off the streets, there will need to be a drive for more institutionalization of mentally-ill individuals and additional lower income housing

The United States Census Bureau reports that, in 2015, 13.5% of Americans lived below the poverty line (Proctor, Semega, & Kollar, 2016). The negative effects of poverty are well documented and can have a widespread effect on the lives of those individuals who are affected. They are more likely to experience income and food insecurity, chronic health conditions, and lower quality education than wealthier Americans (United States Government Accountability Office, 2007). Additionally, and more importantly to the purposes of this report, the poor are more likely to experience homelessness or live in inadequate housing. The National Alliance to End Homelessness (2016) estimates that over 500 thousand people were homeless on any given night in 2015. The federal government, recognizing this issue exists, has responded by allocating “50 billion in housing assistance specifically designated for low-income households” (CBO, p.1) in 2014, which was used to assist nearly five million households through various programs (CBPP, p.1). The housing voucher program, which accounted for the largest percentage, provides families with subsidized housing, while allowing them to choose where they live, provided the housing meets certain health and safety thresholds set by local public housing agencies (HUD, Housing Choice). Despite access to

The cutting of funding for housing services has resulted in less housing stability for individuals and families while putting families at risk to face poverty and homelessness. The government and housing providers are no longer making the needs of individuals and families a priority or even attempt to address the housing needs and challenges these individuals face. Instead, the government, market housing owners, and management have been tearing down housing complexes and replacing them with condominiums, rather than investing in repairs, renovations, and restructuring of the housing properties.

This was not always the case, however. America’s public housing projects did not start out as the looming fortresses of concentrated violence and poverty they would eventually become, but as temporary housing relief for the nation’s transient poor—a place for struggling Americans to live until they could get back on their feet. Contrary to what they would eventually become, public housing projects in the years immediately following their construction were viewed as excellent places to live—paradises, almost—and inspired pride among those who resided in them and envy in those who did not.

The housing crisis that has cast an overbearing shadow within our elderly communities across the United States is by far one of the worst human service issues I have witnessed. Those within the elderly community have somehow become the largest population of people that fill up our homeless shelters, owners of our foreclosed homes, and unfortunately have the least amount of affordable housing developments provided for them to live.

Since at least the National Housing Act of 1937, the standard metric for housing affordability has been 30 percent of gross household income. But for residents working low wage jobs or relying on modest fixed incomes from public benefit programs, paying for accommodation can take more than 80 percent of their incomes (Zippel 2016). This inability to afford and/or overextension of funds to sustain housing costs puts families at high risk for factors of housing instability, such as eviction, frequent moves, living in crowded or substandard conditions, and homelessness. Sudden forced displacement often initiates a downward spiral for families, as belongings are lost, jobs are forgone, and children’s educational attainment is interrupted. Moreover, this excessive devotion of funds to housing disables families from procuring other necessities such as food, transportation, health care, and child care. An estimated one in every five children in DC faces such

With a corrupt housing assistance not only comes the families who refuse to work because of their children, but come the people who have a steady income who keep it hush-hush so they can receive benefits from the government. Personally working at a real estate company I've met quite a few people who are abusing our housing assistance. People who resume working and benefitting from the government assistance is a mockery of what our country should stand for. These people opt themselves out of paying taxes or taking any responsibility for what they must provide for their own families. They use the government assistance simply because of greed. The more money for them the better, they do not care that there are people being rejected the same benefits who actually need it. This is

My community service project encompassed the issue of concern with housing inequality due to economic disparities. Many people in today’s society are unable to provide adequate and healthy housing for their families. According to the CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report of 2011, these disparities decreased across racial, ethnic, income, and education-level categories, indicating that the majority of the people living in such conditions were subjected to a minority1. Non-hispanic blacks, followed by Hispanics and American Indians/Alaska Natives, had the highest percentage of householders living in inadequate housing1. Because of these economic disparities and substandard living conditions, these individuals are exposed to risk

The lack of affordable housing in the United States is a problem that doesn 't receive nearly the attention that it necessitates. This absence of affordable housing became especially prevalent following World War II when suburbanization spread across the country like wildfire. Although the sheer number of homes increased, Jim Crow segregation influenced housing policy, meaning that white institutions prevented blacks from obtaining the mortgages needed to afford such homes. Therefore, rather than accept subprime loans, which often result in foreclosure, many black people have been pigeonholed into paying exorbitant rates for dilapidated rental properties located in inner-cities, thereby creating the affordable housing problem. Although the situation seems bleak, with careful planning and execution, we can solve the affordable housing problem. Specifically, my proposal involves the following two components: the government must first revise and draft three forms of legislation that create strict yet concise standards that landlords must follow, and then allocate federal funding to health and wellness programs within poor communities. By examining the contributing societal factors to the lack of affordable housing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then implementing the proposal mentioned above, one could potentially solve the affordable housing problem there and transpose the plan to other impoverished cities across the country.

Those who rent from private landlords do not only tend to, on average, pay almost double the rent of a person living within social housing but also are twice as likely to live in a residence the Government would class as a “non-decent home”, a residence in disrepair and one that does not meet health and safety standards (Jonathan Owen, 2014). The undisputable growth of private renting sector is not limited to England but is also noticeable in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In wales the private rental sector represents 14% of total housing, the private rental sector in Scotland has doubled over the last ten years as more than three hundred thousand properties have been sold and in Northern Ireland private landlords own more properties than councils and housing associations combined according to national figures provided in 214 (Jonathan Owen, 2014).