Everyone Deserves a Home

Part I:

As the population across the United States continues to increase and poverty continues to rise, the need for affordable housing units also increases making the shortage worse. Given the current state of our economy, housing is becoming less affordable for a lot of people including low-income wage earners. People who make only minimum wage “cannot afford one-bedroom homes anywhere in the country” (Carolyn Chapin). Chapin goes onto say that “the hourly dollar amount a worker must earn to afford a two-bedroom house rose from $15.78 to $16.31 this year.” Contrary to what most people may believe, people from a variety of income levels are affected by the affordable housing shortage. Anyone who is paying more than 30 percent of his or her income on housing needs affordable housing. There is also a lack of decent neighborhoods where crime and drug use is low. If you take all of this into account, there is just not enough housing to meet the demand and based on these findings, the community needs more housing units where the rent in affordable and affordable houses for low-income to moderate income people to purchase in better neighborhoods.

The current state of the housing crisis is bleak. According to Habitat for Humanity’s website:

About 1.6 billion people live in substandard housing and 100 million are homeless in the world. Today 32 percent of the global urban population lives in urban slums. If no action is taken, the number of slum dwellers worldwide will increase to nearly 2 billion. In the United States alone, 95 million people have housing problems. That’s on third of the nation. These problems include payments too large a percentage of their income, overcrowding, poor quality shelter and homelessness. Throughout the world, people live in inadequate housing.

Ultimately the housing crisis will cost society a lot more money.

            I do not think the public has a thorough understanding of the affordable housing issue. I say this because a lot of communities do not want affordable housing developments to be placed in their neighborhoods as evidenced by an article entitled, Addressing Community Opposition to Affordable Housing Development: A Fair Housing Toolkit, where the authors Sara Pratt and Michael Allen give helpful tips to developers who are trying to overcome this problem. They confirm that, “Increasingly, housing developers face opposition from communities to affordable housing. Often based on myths, stereotypes, and outright discrimination, the practices are largely unlawful.”

If people are not properly educated then negative stereotypes will persist. Most people believe that if affordable housing is put in their neighborhoods it will increase crime and the people who already live in that community will no longer be safe. People do not want their peaceful way of life to be disrupted by people hanging out, loud music, and disorderly conduct by those they consider less desirable because they feel that is the type of element attracted by affordable housing.  Living in Lafayette, I have come to understand that apart of the pride of homeownership is the high property values and god forbid if people feel that those values will be jeopardized by a single affordable housing development, especially if it looks like the projects which is what some people think that affordable housing looks like. One of the other main fears of the public concern is about the type of people they believe live that type of housing. What they fail to understand is that some upstanding, professional people in the very same communities where they live are in need of affordable housing, including senior citizens. Furthermore, what people should also be made aware of is the fact that not just anyone can apply to and get into affordable housing. Authorities in charge make sure to perform a credit check, (even though I strongly believe that good credit does not say anything about a person’s moral character or whether or not he or she is a criminal), a prior rental history, and a criminal report.

I think that the general public is not aware of the issue with affordable housing. A lot of people, like me before I started working on this project, do not know that there is a serious housing issue in America let alone the world. In fact, when asked “explicitly about affordable housing, a little over three in ten acknowledge that affordability is a serious or big problem generally where they live, for their state or the nation. In short, about a quarter to a third of the public sees affordable housing on the national or local level as a very serious concern – but only when the issue is framed for them” (What we Know about Public Attitudes on Affordable Housing).

Until I volunteered to work with Habitat for Humanity and started researching information about housing, I had no idea that there was a housing crisis in America or in the world. I find it sad that people who pay too much for housing often do not have enough money leftover to buy things for their basic needs or food, which is why they cannot live a good quality life and some end up living on the streets or in homeless shelters. I think it is very important that more affordable housing is made available because everyone deserves to live a good quality life and children need a home to learn and grow up in. This is a huge problem that needs to be resolved because ultimately everyone is affected by the lack of affordable housing for all Americans.

If you consider the fact that if people who are working have to spend most of their money on housing then that leaves less money for them to spend in the economy, which has an effect on the countries economic growth. Because of this, it is in the government’s best interest to do something to resolve the affordable housing crisis. The government has responded to the housing issue by putting together committees such as the Office of Community Planning and Development, the Office of Housing, and the Office of Public and Indian Housing to put programs together to increase the number of affordable housing units available. The government also provides subsidies and rent vouchers. Moreover, the government funds outside organizations that are committed to helping and providing housing to low-income families. Organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, founded by Millard and Linda Fuller, has changed the lives of many homeless families and individuals is the outstanding development of Habitat for Humanity. Humanity builds very decent, eco-friendly, safe, and comfortable low-income houses for low income and homeless families. The organization uses cheap, yet durable, eco-friendly, and long lasting materials. This amazing and inspirational organization has been making a huge difference not only in the United States of America, but also around the world. It is the leader when it comes to addressing issues of poverty housing.

Some local governments limit the amount of rent landlords can charge tenants by imposing rent control on certain cities.  In addition, each city is required by law to put aside at least twenty percent of its gross annual taxes in an effort to preserve affordable housing for low and moderate-income earners.  Also, if certain non-residential construction projects cost a certain level have to pay fees that go toward developing affordable housing. 

Part II:

 The government is helping to eventually put an end to poverty, however it is a slow process. The government does provide to some poor individuals, financial assistance. The federal government does provide some housing assistance, through what are called rent subsides, tax credits for affordable housing. There are many different funding programs, wanting to make sure that everyone has a home. Most funding programs focus on housing needs and revitalizing neighborhoods. As well as block grants for affordable housing initiatives. However, according to Research Area: Housing, “only one fourth of eligible households get such aid.” Some families receive aid, but not all are fortunate. This is an issue; why don’t all families get such aid? Other federal programs such as HOPE VI and Moving to Opportunity, offer acuity to greatly inform and insure future choices.

            After volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and learning all the issues and how it affects people who are less fortunate, I feel good that I actually made a contribution to helping low income families by building a warm, safe, and decent home that will have a huge impact on the quality of life for a family I have never met. I now understand the importance of giving back and plan to do so throughout my life.

Part III:

            Life may get quite difficult to the point when an individual, unfortunately may lose their job, or not produce enough income to support themselves or their families. What does it all mean? It means that more people need to become aware of the social ills that continue to plague our society and more alternatives need to be created to rectify the affordable housing crisis. Because most low-income wage earners have a tendency to live in low rent areas where crime and drug use is prevalent, one of the solutions is to provide mixed-income housing, which is something that Hope VI through HUD is responsible for implementing. This is important because a good mix people with a various levels of income living in a community will cut down on the bad element, which will not only keep crime low but improve the quality of life for poor people. To make this successful, the housing united has to be aesthetically appealing and located in desirable neighborhoods in order to attract those with higher incomes.

Seeing that the government is constantly cutting the funds of programs designed to benefit the poor, it is going to take a combination of both government and private funding that will offer the best solution for ensuring that enough affordable housing is created to meet the high demand, especially the demand in the years to come. Government needs to also take action to revamp housing programs or housing systems that are not currently producing a high level of outcomes as well as preserve the ones that are working.

On the day I went to volunteer, I went to work on a new community that is located in Bay Point. I did not know what to expect after we were assigned our specific tasks that needed to be completed by the end of the day. I should not forget to mention that we were given the background of Habitat and why it is important that an organization like it exists. I have to say that volunteering was difficult for me because I was not used to that type of physical labor, but I learned to step out of my comfort zone in order to help someone who is in much more of need than I am. I realized then that it is going to take a lot of people to step out of their comfort zones to decrease such a high demand for affordable housing. People are going to have be educated about the issues and open minded about people from various backgrounds and income levels.

Throughout my research and amazing volunteer experience with Habitat for Humanity, I learned that providing a clean; stable home has a huge positive impact on the lives of children and society as a whole. I also learned that stable housing gives people a sense of pride, which may improve their overall self-esteem and cause them to re-evaluate their roles in society. Additionally, I learned that clean housing cuts down on the spread of disease.

“A report issued by the Planning and Development Collaborative International stated, “Clean, warm housing is an essential input for prevention and care of diseases of poverty like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diarrhea, and malaria” (Habitat for Humanity).

Building affordable housing not only creates jobs, but also creates wealth through homeownership. If more affordable houses are developed then it will encourage shopping centers and other commercial developments to be built, which will create jobs.