Homelessness hasn’t always been the issue that it is today. Nationwide, the increase of homelessness didn’t start to rise until the 1980s. Before that time, when a family or individual experienced a crisis and lost their housing, they could quickly find another place to live. Communities had plenty of affordable housing available for rent and homelessness was predominately an issue among single adults.
The increase in homelessness since the 1980s is a result of the convergence of key factors, including:
- The loss of affordable housing and increase in foreclosures.
- The rising housing costs and cost of living, in tandem with wages and public assistance that have not kept pace with rising housing costs and the cost of living.
- The closing of state psychiatric institutions without the concomitant creation of sufficient community-based housing and services.
Congress should provide more support and funding for affordable rental housing. Help us by sharing your story with Congress.
Tell Your Story by Jan. 6
The National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Campaign for Housing and Community Development are preparing a national report on the broad, positive impact of federal affordable housing programs. They will feature success stories to demonstrate how these programs have made a positive impact for low income families living in rural, suburban, and urban communities across the nation. The report is slated for publication in early 2017 and will be distributed to Members of Congress.
As part of this effort, we would like to encourage state and local organizations, as well as individuals, to submit a Success Story to be included in this publication. Please only submit one Success Story per organization.
To submit a Success Story, please fill out this form and upload a high-resolution photo by January 6. If you have any questions, please contact NLIHC Senior Policy Analyst Elayne Weiss at eweiss@nlihc.org. Thank you in advance for your help!