The Housing Alliance believes everyone needs a safe, stable,
and affordable place to call home. We believe that home is the foundation of opportunity;
without a home, kids can’t succeed in school and adults can’t be stable at work
or address barriers in their lives.
Today, too many Oregonians are without that safe, stable and
affordable place to call home. In every community in our state, there are
residents who struggle to make ends meet and are often forced to choose between
paying rent and putting food on the table. Moreover, too many veterans who have
served their country go without a home in Oregon. We owe a debt to these
veterans — they sacrificed their time and put their bodies and minds in harm’s
way on our behalf. We cannot let them come back to Oregon only to have no place
to call home.
Veterans are more likely than the rest of us to experience
homelessness – and it’s not just those who fought long ago during the Vietnam
era. It is also increasingly men and women returning from conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan who’ve suffered unbelievable injuries and post-traumatic stress
disorder. The average length of time between returning from the war and
becoming homeless for these new veterans is now just three years. Medical
issues, mental health concerns and an inability to find a decent paying job are
all contributing factors. It’s estimated that as many as 130,000 veterans
experienced homeless for all or part of the past year across the United States,
and three times more are struggling with high rents and low incomes. One out of
every three people who are experiencing homelessness and sleeping in a doorway,
an alley or a cardboard box every night is a veteran who has served this
country.
The Housing Alliance believes it’s unacceptable for anyone —
a veteran, a family, an individual — to be forced to sleep outside, in a
doorway or their car. We all need a place to call home.
The 2013 Oregon State Legislature is now in session, and the
Housing Alliance has many proposals this year to remove the barriers people
face in affording a place to live. One of those proposals is HB 2417, which
would add $5 to an existing document recording fee dedicated to funding
affordable housing. The funds raised through this fee would specifically serve
veterans who are experiencing homelessness or need assistance in affording a
place to call home.
The proposal would address the continuum of housing needs —
from homelessness to affordable housing to homeownership. It would help
veterans who need a permanent place to call home with supportive services to
address medical needs or mental health issues. It would assist veterans who
need help affording an apartment after experiencing homelessness or prevent
them from becoming homeless. It would help more veterans afford a place for
themselves or their families. And for those ready to take the next step towards
homeownership, it would help with down payment assistance.
Helping veterans find a place to call home matters to the
Housing Alliance, just as it matters that we find a place for everyone to call
home. In recent years, we’ve seen an effort at the federal level to address and
end homelessness among veterans. The Secretary of the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, has called for an end to homelessness among
veterans by 2015. This has led to increased housing vouchers and resources for
veterans. Funds from the state of Oregon through this document recording fee
increase will make federal funds go farther, easier to use, and more effective
at this critical juncture.
Federal housing vouchers are a precious resource for a
disabled veteran – they allow the veteran to find a place to rent and pay a
portion of their income toward their rent. The government pays the balance, and
the veteran lives in safe, stable, affordable, and permanent housing. However,
this useful tool doesn’t help a veteran with the costs associated with finding
that apartment — it can’t pay for an application fee or even a deposit. The
good news is that this proposed increase in the document recording fee could
pay these things. It could also help pay for a case manager to help veterans
find apartments and ensure they remain stable in their housing.
Veterans in Oregon also have access to homeownership
assistance through low interest, fixed-rate mortgages. A little bit of down
payment assistance from the document recording fee funds would help more
veterans gain access to homeownership for the first time.
Working together, the Housing Alliance believes we can solve
not only the crisis of veteran homelessness, but also end homelessness for all
Oregonians. Together, we can make sure we all have safe, stable places to call
home and the opportunity it provides.
So help us — help us pass HB 2417, and help us as we work to
address the housing crises in our communities. Join us in Salem on April 4 for
Housing Opportunity Lobby Day, or call your Legislator and tell them to address
the housing needs in our communities. Together we can solve these problems and
make sure we all have access to opportunity.
The Housing Alliance brings together advocates, local
governments, housing authorities, community development corporations,
environmentalists, service providers, business interests and all others
dedicated to increasing the resources available to meet our housing needs to
support a common statewide legislative and policy agenda. Alison McIntosh is a
policy manager with Neighborhood Partnerships.
This article appears in 2013-03-01.