WASHINGTON – Michael Doss cleans up around his tent, the place he calls home in Washington, D.C. He\u2019s not alone; dozens of people are living outdoors in makeshift shelters within view of landmarks and federal government buildings.<\/P>
The nation\u2019s capital, like many U.S. communities, is struggling to cope with a growing homelessness crisis aggravated by the historic economic downturn and the coronavirus pandemic.<\/P>
\u201cI was forced to live on the streets,\u201d Doss told VOA. He\u2019s among nearly 600,000 Americans living without adequate shelter. \u201cI lost my bartending job, then my apartment, and things kind of spiral downhill from there,\u201d said the 33-year-old African American D.C. native. Doss points to a section of the park where he\u2019s seen this tent encampment grow in the last few months. \u201cWe have a lot of military veterans, immigrants and minorities living here. I\u2019ve been out here for more than a year,\u201d he said.<\/P>
Nearly 10 out of every 1,000 D.C. residents are homeless, two times the national average. Minorities are especially impacted with Blacks, Native Americans and Hispanics far more likely to be homeless than white Americans.<\/P>
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\u201cThere are huge racial disparities in homelessness and the result of systemic racism in housing and in other sectors,\u201d said Sarah Saadian, vice president of public policy at the National Low Income Housing Coalition. \u201cAfrican-Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population but are about 40% of people who experience homelessness and make up more than half of all families experiencing homelessness.\u201d<\/P>
Army veteran Edward McCoy has been homeless since 2018. \u201cI want to get into a stable and safe place,\u201d he told VOA. \u201cI\u2019ve been robbed 10 times in this D.C. park and need help getting out of here.\u201d<\/P>
Major government funding, low-income housing<\/P>
President Joe Biden\u2019s American Rescue Plan Act, passed by Congress and signed into law in March, calls for spending billions of dollars to help the displaced and those at risk of becoming homeless. Cities and states can use the money to help safely house people during and after the pandemic. The rescue plan also provides more than $46 billion for emergency rental assistance. Non-governmental organizations estimate that between 30 million and 40 million people were at risk of losing their homes during the pandemic.<\/P>
The federal government aid package contains $5 billion in emergency housing vouchers for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. \u201cWe estimate those funds could allow us to house at least 150,000 people and create as many as 30,000 units of affordable housing,\u201d said Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. \u201cWe\u2019ll work with communities to make sure the resources are well targeted and used quickly to get people into housing.\u201d<\/P>
Washington city officials are hopeful people living in homeless encampments will be relocated soon after old hotel and motel rooms are converted into permanent affordable housing.<\/P>
\u201cThe city will receive $19 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan, \u201cwhich is four times what we normally get,\u201d said Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. \u201cHere in D.C., we have been very focused on making homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring.\u201d<\/P>
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In Los Angeles a federal judge is calling for urgent action to find shelters for tens of thousands of homeless people by November. Judge David Carter criticized local officials for not being able to curb the growth of homelessness. \u201cAll the rhetoric, promises, plans and budgeting cannot obscure the shameful reality of this crisis,\u201d Carter said in his order. As of January, more than 66,000 people were estimated to be homeless in Los Angeles County.<\/P>
Meanwhile local officials around San Francisco unveiled a plan for reducing homelessness by 75% over the next three years with the construction of more low-income housing. Experts believe the lack of low-income housing is one of the major causes for homelessness right now, a point Saadian reinforces.<\/P>
\u201cThe private sector can’t build all the housing needed for people who are experiencing homelessness,” she said. “There has to be federal subsidies.\u201d<\/P>
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Source: Voice Of America<\/P>
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