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Center for Social Policy
McCormack Graduate School
University of Massachusetts Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125-3393
Phone: (617) 287 5550
Fax: (617) 287 5544
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Out in the cold: Skyrocketing housing costs push the poor into homelessness
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Author(s):
Jon Brodkin / News Staff Writer
Source(s):
Metrowest Daily News
(actual article)
Date: November 14, 2004
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With the state's housing costs nearly the highest in the nation, many people who live off
government assistance and even some who work are finding it nearly impossible to earn enough
money to pay rent, researchers and local social workers report.
The gap between income and the cost of an apartment prevents many from escaping homelessness
and puts others at risk of being forced out into the streets.
"The hourly wage just doesn't match up with what the rents are," said Judy Byron, director of
the Winter Haven Shelter in Milford. "People make $7.50 or $8.50 an hour, if they're lucky,
and usually not full time. And the rents are $1,200 for a two-bedroom. There's no way you
can do that."
A report released last week by the UMass-Boston Center for Social Policy sheds light on
just how difficult it is for many to afford housing.
A survey of 726 Massachusetts families and individuals who are receiving homeless prevention
services found that, on average, their incomes were less than a third of what they would
need to rent an apartment. Out of those surveyed, 28 percent were working and 63 percent
were receiving public assistance.
The numbers shocked even some who work with the homeless.
"That was unbelievable. These people don't have a chance," said Bill Taylor, CEO of
Advocates, Inc., a Framingham-based group that serves the mentally ill and developmentally
disabled. "It strikes me that, with the high cost of housing in the area, it is terribly
difficult for people who are poor or on fixed incomes to be able to avoid the threat of
homelessness."
State Sen. David Magnani, D-Framingham, who is in his final months in the Legislature
after serving 20 years in the House and Senate, said he hopes this is one report that
won't be ignored.
"You know, we get these reports that are absolutely devastating in terms of the human cost,
and then they sit on the shelf," he said. "I'm hoping this will be different. I'm hoping
this will be the basis for significant legislative and gubernatorial action."
The Center for Social Policy survey focused on people who received homeless prevention
services through a $1 million grant distributed by 18 nonprofits, including Advocates.
They included both the homeless and very poor people who are not homeless.
Individuals in the sample earned average incomes of $947 per month, less than a third
of what is needed to afford a one-bedroom apartment at fair market rents, assuming that
30 percent of a household's income is spent on housing.
Families struggled even more. For example, a family of four or five needs a monthly income
of $4,859 to afford a three-bedroom apartment. But the average income for those families
was just $1,063, the survey found.
Most of the participants were from Boston, but the findings are perhaps even more relevant
in MetroWest because of the region's high housing costs, some say.
"I think if you look at the housing market in the community we're in, it's even more
acute," said Martin Cohen, president of the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation,
an organization that distributes grants to local schools, social service and health care
providers.
According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics, Massachusetts' median housing costs
for renters are the fourth highest in the country, at $820 per month. The median cost is
$1,018 in Middlesex County, the 20th most expensive county in the nation, the Census
Bureau found.
A separate report released last year by the Boston-based Technical Assistance Collaborative,
Inc., found that a modest one-bedroom unit in Massachusetts costs 35 percent more than
benefits the disabled receive under the federal Supplemental Security Income program.
Without access to subsidized housing, then, the disabled often struggle.
"At any point in time in the country, only 30 to 40 percent of people who are eligible for
subsidized housing actually get it," said Ann O'Hara, associate director of the Technical
Assistance Collaborative, and a former Massachusetts state housing official.
In the Center for Social Policy's survey sample, nearly four out of five heads of households
reported medical conditions, including disability, substance abuse and mental illness.
More than a quarter were living in a shelter, and more than 90 percent of those were in a
program that was ending.
Ten percent of the survey sample were staying with family or friends, and 37 percent were
in rented apartments, mostly ones that were public or subsidized.
Many of those in rental housing faced eviction or other threats like shutoff of utilities.
"Those are really poor people," said Michelle Kahan, senior research associate at the
center. "Either they're not paying for rent, or they're not paying for other things."
In MetroWest, an informal census conducted in February found 390 homeless people. The number
was lower than the 500 documented one year before, due to a state program that found places
to stay for families living in motels.
Many of the area's homeless live in single rooms owned by the South Middlesex Opportunity
Council. Most of them work and pay a limited amount in rent, but can't afford housing on
their own, said Jerry Desilets, the agency's director of planning.
"Most of the folks who live in single room occupancy units are working people," Desilets
said. "Some are working full time. Some are working part time and finding it hard to make
ends meet."
SMOC and other human service advocates want the state to reinstate the Individual
Self-Sufficiency Program, or ISSI, which provided rental subsidies before being cut from
the budget last year, Desilets said. Reinstating the program at $5 million would allow
800 people to move out of emergency shelters each year, he said.
Budget problems have forced state officials to "become innovative" to help the homeless,
said Beth Bresnahan, spokeswoman for the Department of Housing and Community Development.
For example, the Romney administration has required developers who receive state funding
to dedicate 10 percent of housing they build to low-income renters, she said. The
program has produced 986 low-income units since January 2003, she said.
And in the absence of ISSI, the state two months ago began a $2 million pilot program
called RAFT, or Residential Assistance for Families in Transition, Bresnahan said.
Similar to ISSI, the program provides up to $1,500 to families to help pay rent, utility
bills, or anything that could prevent someone from becoming homeless.
"The Massachusetts housing market has made it very difficult for households earning
decent salaries to secure permanent housing. The Romney administration is very aware
of the difficulties low-income households are facing. We're taking steps to help combat
this phenomenon," she said.
Some, though, argue the state isn't doing nearly enough. Magnani said there is a
"vague sensibility" that homeless people are to blame for their predicament.
"Certainly, our public policy seems to reflect that sentiment," Magnani said. He said
studies have shown it would be far less expensive for the state to do homeless prevention
programs than to place people in shelters.
Kahan of the Center for Social Policy said its new report is designed to influence state
policy.
"What we would hope is for a comprehensive, state-funded solution to meeting the needs of
a variety of people who are on the verge of reaching homelessness," she said.
Finding a solution is complicated by the problems that tend to lead to homelessness. For
example, many of the homeless are drug abusers or mentally ill, yet advocates complain
programs that help those people are underfunded. For example, Framingham Detox Center was
closed by state budget cuts last year.
The array of problems the homeless face underscores the need for a comprehensive solution,
said Cohen of the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation.
"The approach to homelessness," Cohen said, "needs to be a multidisciplinary one that
includes treatment for mental illness, detox, as well as assistance trying to secure
housing."
Jon Brodkin can be reached at 508-626-4424 or jbrodkin@cnc.com.
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