affordable Housing
“Housing is a human right and should be treated as such, not as just another commodity.”
-Denard
The Issue:
In 2022, Alameda County released the data from the Homeless Point – In- Time (PIT) Count & Survey, which is a community effort around the county to get comprehensive counts of people experiencing homelessness in order to measure its prevalence across Alameda communities. The PIT Executive Summary outlines key findings. On the night of February 22, 2022, 9747 people in Alameda County were residing in shelters, transitional housing, safe havens, vehicles, tents, abandoned buildings, and other places not intended for habitation. This is a 22% increase from 2019: that’s 1,725 Alameda residents. The top 3 findings are listed below:
· Eviction/foreclosure/rent increase, job loss, and other money issues were reported as the top 3 reasons individuals became homeless.
· The number of people residing in cars/vans increased from 23% in 2019 to 33% in 2022 equaling 2,319 people.
· The number of people reporting a disabling condition remained similar to 2019 data, at around 42%; however, those with disabling conditions reported more health issues. Psychiatric/Emotional conditions and PTSD are the top 2 reported issues.
Proposed solution:
America has a problem: access to affordable housing. We simply cannot continue to treat housing as just another commodity. It is a human right and should be treated as such. Implementing the three Ps across federal legislation is the goal we should strive for:
· Protect – According to 2021 U.S. Census Bureau data, approximately 55% of the 287,000 occupied housing units across CA-12 are renter-occupied. With so much of our biopsychosocial well-being tied to having a roof over our head, expanding tenant protection and just-cause eviction laws will continue to be a necessity.
· Preserve – using current available housing effectively is equally important. Doubling the budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would aid the Department in expanding the number of available housing choice vouchers, and in funding the needed staff/resources to support this expansion. This increased budget could be supplemented by decreasing our Defense Spending and diverting a portion of those funds to the annual HUD budget.
· Produce – a multi-pronged approach to producing more affordable housing presents as the best option. The Social Housing legislation introduced in the California Assembly by Assemblymember Alex Lee provides an alternative housing model that presents as more sustainable than current housing models. Providing incentives for landlord participation in the housing choice voucher program, as outlined in the Choice in Affordable Housing Act, would also help further this aim.