"No matter what other factors may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness...

[Sapphire Blue]

– without housing, that person will remain homeless."


-------------------------------------------

WITHOUT HOUSING: Decades of Federal Housing Cutbacks, Massive Homelessness, and Policy Failures


Executive Summary (Page 9)

Without Housing documents federal funding trends for affordable housing over the past 25
years, particularly funding for housing programs administered by the US Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as well as Section 515 rural affordable housing
administered by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). It describes the correlation
of these trends to the emergence of a new and massive episode of homelessness in
the early 1980s that has continued to the present, and also demonstrates why federal
responses to this nationwide crisis have consistently failed. It is focused primarily on
what we consider to be one of the most important – if not the most important – factors
in explaining why so many people are homeless in the United States today: the cutbacks
to and eventual near elimination of the federal government’s commitment to building,
maintaining, and subsidizing affordable housing.

In 1978, HUD’s budget was over $83 billion.1

In 1983, HUD’s budget was only $18 billion.2

In 1983, general public emergency shelters began opening in cities nationwide.3

In 1987, Congress passed the Stewart B. McKinney Act, providing $880 million in homeless
assistance funding (2004 constant dollars).4

Since 1987, annual McKinney homeless assistance has never been more than $1.4 billion.5


Our perspective is that the overwhelming omission of the systemic and broad structural
causes of homelessness in public discussions and policy responses is nothing short of a
collective deception that has only led to increased homelessness. Federal responses to
homelessness have failed and will continue to fail unless and until they include a serious
and sizable federal recommitment to funding affordable housing.


The Root Cause of Contemporary Homelessness

While decades of homeless policy responses have focused upon individual – rather than
systemic – factors to explain and address homelessness, the fact that millions of families,
single adults, and youth with different biographical backgrounds came to simultaneously
experience homelessness in 1983 – and that millions continue to suffer on our streets
today – requires a reexamination of historical and social structural forces.

From 1976-1982, HUD built over 755,000 new public housing units, but since 1983, HUD
built only 256,000 new public housing units.6

From 1976-1985, a yearly average of almost 31,000 new Section 515 rural affordable housing
units were built, but from 1986-1995, average yearly production was less than half that of the
previous decade.7

From 1996-2005, Section 515 built an average of only 1700 new units per year.8

In recent years, over 200,000 private-sector rental units have been lost annually, and 1.2
million unsubsidized affordable housing units disappeared from 1993-2003.9
HUD budget authority in 1978 was 65% more than its 2006 budget of $29 billion.10


ii
The de-funding of federal affordable housing programs, coupled with the loss of public
housing units as well as private-sector affordable housing, should be central to any
discussion of the causes of homelessness, yet they have been all but ignored in the debates
about and policy responses to the current ongoing crisis. No matter what other factors
may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness – without housing,
that person will remain homeless.

http://wraphome.org/documents/Without_Housing_20061114.pdf



"No matter what other factors may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness – without housing, that person will remain homeless."



"No matter what other factors may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness – without housing, that person will remain homeless."



"No matter what other factors may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness – without housing, that person will remain homeless."



"No matter what other factors may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness – without housing, that person will remain homeless."



"No matter what other factors may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness – without housing, that person will remain homeless."




Indigo Blue (Sapphire Blue's daughter)

[EFerrari]

1. Indigo, do you have a DU account?

[uppityperson]

2. Indigo, Indigoblue...

Indigo
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=user_profiles&u_id=105901
Indigoblue
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/indigoblue

[Sapphire Blue]

3. No, I don't.

Initially I only meant to post a thread about John Edwards' Half in Ten campaign. My mom was a strong supporter of his presidential campaign; I know she would have supported his Half in Ten campaign just as strongly.

Then I just wanted to post one more thing that was important to her. Then one more. And one more. I'll stop using her account if it's a problem.

[EFerrari]

4. It's not a problem. When I see you Mom's account

I tear up because I loved her a bunch. I guess, it's just too soon.

That's my issue. Maybe it's comforting for you to use hers -- I certainly understand that. When my gramma left us, I took to wearing one of her robes until it fell apart.

I love that you're posting these threads and I look forward to seeing more of them. If you start your own account, be sure to let me / us know so we can support the threads. And, you, of course. :)

[Sapphire Blue]

5. Thank you, sfexpat2000, for what you said.

I know that my mom loved you, too. I remember her saying that you were a beautiful soul, that you were one of the people who got her to start posting here; she had never posted anything on the internet before. (She used to HATE computers, but finally gave in a few years ago when my brother got a new one and gave her his old one, teasing her about not being a cavewoman anymore.)

I think my mom would have told you what she told my brothers and me: "I know that you're going to miss me when I'm gone. Shed your tears, then open the door and look outside; there's a whole world that needs your attention, a whole world that needs fixing. Do whatever you can, in any way that you can, whenever you can. So many people need you desperately."

That's what I'm trying to do.

[EFerrari]

6. I still can't talk about this, you know.

Your Mom was a brave lady and she had a wicked sense of humor and I miss her, we miss her, terribly.

:hug:
:grouphug:

[mntleo2]

10. Please keep using it, Indigo

...Like SFexpat, I also tear up whenever I see your mother's byline. I always knew whatever she posted was worthwhile of my time to read and to respond to. We activists for the low income are out there often alone without much support. I loved your mother just for all she`did!

Love
Cat in Seattle

[ismnotwasm]

7. And isn't that a simple truth?

Why it seems to be hard for some to grasp, I don't know.

[checks-n-balances]

8. K & R

Thanks, Sapphire Indigo/Indigo Sapphire

[maryf]

9. Basic Human Right

Hi Indigo, I'm very sorry about your mother and sorry I wasn't here long enough to know her well.

I find it sad but understandable that the UN is disparaged by this and past administrations and wonder if it could be in part be related to the initial Human Rights Declaration the UN put forth in 1948, especially considering Article 25:

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection. (my note: it is my understanding that children constitute the largest growing group of severe poverty in this country).

The homeless are so frequently and erroneously in this country blamed for their situation due to "deficient" character traits like addictiveness, mental illness, and unwillingness to work. The expression "circumstances beyond his control" in the above article 25 indicates the compassion of the writers of the original to those less fortunate than many. The entire document is worthy of reading (and I will supply a link on edit http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html ), but this article 25 addressed your concern about the right to housing.

I thank you so much for your research, it seems that there isn't enough housing to go around as we stand now, and that insistence on new housing for any without, needs to be a major priority for all who read this to address to their representatives and local press. In Peace and Solidarity, Mary

[Divine Discontent]

11. right on! B*sh has outright encouraged homelessness

thank you for your information and advocacy...

blessings upon you

[bobbolink]

13. If you read the information in the original post, this was LONG before *

Carter wasn't a friend of homeless people, and neither was Clinton.

[Divine Discontent]

21. thank you

it's only got worse under W. And now the economy is faltering badly - things are getting really bad for most now, where before it was just the poor and homeless who were really suffering - now surely a 100 million are finding it hard to pay their bills. I don't find that good, but it's a result of people not caring about what they're gov't has focused their tax dollars upon.

maybe, just maybe, they'll wake up before November and insure some major changes with a couple seat gain in the senate, and a President Barack Obama!

[bobbolink]

12. What I've been trying to find, is figures of how much HUD pays annually to DESTROY housing.

I"m SURE that's part of their budget, but I can't find any figures on it.

They don't tear 'em down for no money.

For instance, in the last few months, over 5,000 low-income units were destroyed in NOLA, ignoring protests against the destruction. These were units that could have been rehabed, and re-inhabited.

Now they're gone, with nothing to replace them.

Sold to developers for up-scale housing, no doubt.

:nuke:

[maryf]

14. Buying up the houses

There is a woman who I heard at a workshop on social justice, who said she was buying multiple dwelling houses in a neighborhood that was gradually being razed house by house. She got them very cheap, and bless her, was renovating them and then renting them out very cheap. She said she was trying to keep some options open for all the folks who were losing homes due to the tearing down, and meanwhile trying to keep the neighborhood alive. Those old houses are built so much better, and no formaldehyde! She's inspired others to take suit, and they're not into "gentrification" just neighborhood!

[bobbolink]

15. That's fine, and I'm glad there are still a few people left with integrity. HOWEVER,

that isn't LOW-INCOME.

People are focused now on the "crisis" of middle-income housing, while still ignoring the CRISIS going on for decades of low-income housing. As you can see in that document, 61% of federal money for housing goes to people with incomes over $54,000 something... (can't look at it while I'm typing this).

THAT is the problem!

[maryf]

19. Actually I'm pretty sure

This was low income housing; the neighborhood is the poorest in Albany, and some of the houses were just abandoned and boarded up, so she got them dirt cheap, she actually has lived in the neighborhood for years, and has been doing this for a while, way before the "housing crises". The main reason the city is trying to clear it out is due to a drug problem, so they say. Anyway, she charges lower rent than many who live in the neighborhood are paying. Its a rare situation, and I don't think (can't bet on it) that she gets grants to do it, just one house at a time, and neighborly help is what it sounded like to me, but maybe I'm naive, its been said before. :)

[bobbolink]

25. "the city is trying to clear it out is due to a drug problem, so they say"

I"m very glad you qualified that.

I just finished reading about the "redlining" in the 60s and 70s. VERY DIRTY doings by real estate agents and contractors!

YES, we must start being suspicious of all of this... it's literally killing some of us.

This IS the Housing Crisis!

This IS the Housing Crisis!

This IS the Housing Crisis!

This IS the Housing Crisis!

This IS the Housing Crisis!

This IS the Housing Crisis!

This IS the Housing Crisis!

:hug:

[caseycoon]

16. Kick Please keep using your mom's name!

And please, PLEASE keep posting all this great information.
Thanks Indigo, for all you are doing!
:hi:

[bobbolink]

18. Isn't she great--finding all this priceless info!

:loveya:

[bobbolink]

17. "We're getting out of the housing business. Period," said a HUD deputy assistant secretary in 1985.

from RACHEL AND HER CHILDREN
Jonathan Kozol, 1988

p. 11 The cause of homelessness is lack of housing.
Half a million units of low-income housing are lost every year to condominium conversion, abandonment, arson, demolition. Between 1978 and 1980, median rents climbed 30 percent for those in the lowest income sector. Half these people paid nearly three quarters of their income for their housing.
During these years the White House cut virtually all federal funds to build or rehabilitate low-income housing. Federal support for low-income hosing dropped from $28 billion to $9 billion between 1981 and 1986. "We're getting out of the housing business. Period," said a HUD deputy assistant secretary in 1985. The consequences now are seen in every city of America.

So, since 1988, we've known that THE CAUSE OF HOMELESSNESS IS LACK OF HOUSING.

Why is there still so much ignorance about that?

Why still the debates, even here at DU, about "the causes of homelessness"?

Why are there still so many "liberals", including here at DU, who insist MOST homeless people are alkies, druggies and "mentally ill"?

WHY is this not a HOUSING CRISIS???

[maryf]

20. This IS the housing crises!

Absolutely, thanks for pointing this out so well! and for the additional info, its all tools for my brain to build action with! and wasn't that Carter's time, man of Habitat for Humanity?? Keep truth telling! :yourock:

[bobbolink]

24. Yes, it was Carter's time. That's why I keep repeating... We MUST Stop Blaming * and the RW!!!

It's not that simple... just "getting a Dem in the White House" won't solve it!

Carter sold us out. (Habitat is a nice, cozy image... an old man wielding a hammer to build a house for a poor family) but it serves Very Few of us. What about the rest of us??? There are many weaknesses of Habitat, and I won't go into them here.

You've started a mantra:

This IS the housing crises!


This IS the housing crises!


This IS the housing crises!


This IS the housing crises!


This IS the housing crises!

Preach it, sistah!!

:hug:

[maryf]

31. Will do!

And lets get the choir singing loud!!! Housing for all! :hug:

[Gormy Cuss]

28. Even those who assume that most homeless people are alkies,druggies, and mentally ill

should also understand that HOMElessness is a different issue.


Indigo's link lays out the causes (although as someone with a professional background in the public housing arena, I'd like to add that the WRAP report understates the history of HUD's mission devolving away from production and maintenance of affordable rental housing, which was the backbone of its housing initiatives until the 1960s.) The market-based solution has failed. The phony notion that by shifting to ownership programs the need for decent, affordable rental housing will go away has failed.

I've said it here many times before and will say it again: HUD needs to get back into the business of promoting rental housing for low income people.

[bobbolink]

32. "the WRAP report understates the history of HUD's mission devolving "

Could you please say more about this??

Very few people have any concept of how the low-income housing has shrunk, and I'd appreciate any light you can shed on this!

Thanks!

"HUD needs to get back into the business of promoting rental housing for low income people. "

could you please run for office??? :)

:yourock:

[maryf]

34. Hear, Hear

HUD needs to get back into the business of promoting rental housing for low income people.

How can the homeless get homes when there aren't enough available, I feel guilty that I had a HUD mortgage, the funds probably could have housed many more than just two.

[Skittles]

22. Dallas is trying a new approach

it will be interesting to see the results:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D90OJMMO4.html

[bobbolink]

23. Most of us just need HOMES. I know, that's too simple.

I, personally, am sick to death of all the increased effort to BLAME people for their "condition".

Most of us don't need "counseling", or any other authoritarian "oversight".

What we need is HOMES.

Just like the OP says.

What a concept.

"No matter what other factors may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness – without housing, that person will remain homeless."

"No matter what other factors may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness – without housing, that person will remain homeless."

"No matter what other factors may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness – without housing, that person will remain homeless."

"No matter what other factors may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness – without housing, that person will remain homeless."

"No matter what other factors may come into play in any individual’s experience of homelessness – without housing, that person will remain homeless."

We Need Homes!

[KillCapitalism]

26. We Need Homes!

I couldn't agree more with that. It's about time Dem. politicians started talking about Universal Housing along with Universal Healthcare.

[bobbolink]

27. UNIVERSAL HOUSING! YES!!!! Real JUSTICE, rather than charity.

Some countries have put these necessities in their CONSTITUTIONS.

It is part of the U.N. bill of rights.

Yet, even Dems, even DUers, dismiss this.

What do we have to do????

thank you so much for understanding, KillCapitalism!

I can't for the life of me understand why ALL OF DU isn't enraged by this!

:yourock:

[kdmorris]

29. Kicked

Don't have too much time to post anything right now, but this should stay at the top!

I can't recommend because it's been more than 24 hours. :cry:

[maryf]

30. and another kick!

You go Indigo!

[wellstone dem]

33. kicking because I can't recomend

Thank you for a wonderful post.

I work at legal aid. The problem I can't solve is, but there isn't housing that I can afford, that is large enough for my family, that is safe.

I can help with unlawful evictions. I can help with poor housing conditions. And once in a while,I get to support an economic development effort that creates housing. But when a mother comes in, wanting to leave an abuser, who says "I can't find affordable housing," that's when I lay awake at night.