March Madness and the "Homeless" Court Disadvantage

This year, March is not reserved for sports madness alone. With Congress unable to come to agreement on the federal budget, the “unthinkable” has happened with sequestration and the start of $85 billion across-the-board cuts on domestic and defense programs. These catastrophic federal spending cuts in federal housing programs at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have landed directly on highly vulnerable individuals and families, putting them at risk of becoming or remaining homeless and leaving nothing for other basic needs.

With average rent in Fairfax County for a 2BR apartment at $1,550/month, a household would have to earn $62,000 annually to afford housing and other basic needs (www.nlihc.org). Nearly one-quarter of Fairfax County households earn less than that, and 8.4% or 33,000 households in Fairfax County earn less than $25,000 per year, surviving on near poverty level wages.  Housing hardships among low-income renters are rising sharply; the number of renters with what HUD terms “worst-case housing needs” has risen by 43%.

Housing assistance is arguably the most important home court advantage for Reston Interfaith and the Fairfax County Partnership organizations working to prevent and end homelessness. For homeless, disabled, elderly and low-income working families living in our high cost of living area, subsidies are the stabilizing force, and stable housing the number one predictor of future self-sufficiency, no matter what other challenges an individual or family is facing.

While some say programs for the poor—like housing assistance for the most vulnerable—will be exempted from sequestration, or that the effect will not be immediate, that is not how things are playing out. When the freeze play was called on Capitol Hill, it had the effect of immediately benching our neighbors. Fairfax County, like other jurisdictions dealing with the uncertainty and fickle nature of the current situation, has already put a hold on the release of new vouchers that we were counting on to help our neighbors. We’re calling a technical. 

Jeri is 70 years old, frail and lost her housing after a long illness. Her Social Security payments are insufficient to meet her living expenses without help. She is sleeping on a cot in our overflow program and will be back on the streets on April 1 because after years on the waiting list, the promise of assistance has been delayed. 

A single mom, Kara has three children under the age of seven and has struggled with homelessness for years after leaving the abusive relationship with her children’s father. She never finished high school but is smart and determined. She tries to think beyond her current situation and hopes to get her GED and train as a bookkeeper. She cries at night because a shelter is no place to raise her children. She had been approved for a voucher and found a landlord willing to overlook her poor credit and past evictions. He will have to move on to another renter because her voucher is on hold, along with her dreams.

Livable, caring communities and safe, affordable housing are priorities are of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Investments in affordable housing provide stability and opportunity for working families and a safety net for extremely low-income households and our neighbors with special needs.

At a time when businesses, governments, communities and families are craving certainty and predictability to help adjust to a “new normal,” why aren’t we calling a timeout to adjust the call for homeless and vulnerable neighbors like Jeri, and Kara and her children, who are ready to go home?  It’s madness. 

Wilson is the CEO of Reston Interfaith. A version of this op-ed also appeard in the Reston Connection.