The Affordable Housing Cause

The place in which we live-- be it a house, an apartment, a high-rise, Section 8 housing, a teepee, the Biltmore Estate-- is a major character in our lives. It is where we spend the majority of our time. It is where the bonds with other people are first formed, the setting for interaction with family. It is the ground where first steps are made, launching pad for first days of school, photo backdrop for senior proms. A home’s front door may be the threshold through which many new couples enter. In a few words, it is like the physical embodiment of a family photo-album, the place where memories are both made and stored.

It is also where, as and adult, much of one’s financial and personal investment is represented. Being able to obtain quality housing leads to some of life’s proudest moments: moving into one’s first place away from the parents, owning one’s own first home, having the equity from a house to take out a loan and start one’s own business. We as a country even go so far as to make owning a home part of the cultural ‘American Dream’, though white picket fences are less popular than they used to be.

On the opposite side of the coin, because housing’s importance is so central to our lives it can be one of the biggest detriments and burdens. The loss of a home from fire, flood, or other natural disaster can be devastating both financially and psychologically. The inability to afford quality housing leads some people to accept living in situations with overcrowding, excessive cold or heat, noise, pests, lack of security, structural deficiencies, mold-- the list goes on and on. Others are forced to pay a disproportionate percentage of their income to obtain decent housing.

The lack of cheap housing can compound the problems of poverty, making it harder to save or allocate toward food, healthcare or other important needs. According to statistics from Habitat for Humanity 95 million people, about 1/3 of the nation, have housing problems including overcrowding, poor quality shelter, homelessness, and high-cost burden (about 16 million paying over 50% of their income toward housing).