Housing & Homelessness

Housing is a human right, set forth as such in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet even before the coronavirus pandemic, over 567,000 people around the country, and nearly 3,000 people in Connecticut, were experiencing homelessness.  Nationwide, millions of others live at risk of homelessness, and the current economic recession has led even more families to live in uncertainty.  Widespread unemployment and insufficient federal and state rental assistance has left millions of people in a precarious and vulnerable situation. Compounding this instability are the many barriers to obtaining safe, decent housing that have purposefully been erected by policymakers and institutions, such as exclusionary zoning laws. 

There is a severe gap in Connecticut between the number of affordable rental units available, and the number of individuals and families who need them.  According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in 2018 there were 147,514 extremely low-income rental households in the state, and only 60,678 affordable and available rentals. Additionally, although it is illegal in Connecticut to discriminate based on a renter having a Section 8 voucher, we know that discrimination still occurs, making it even harder for many people to access affordable housing.  Discrimination based on race is also illegal, yet fair housing testing has shown that Black people often still face this injustice when renting an apartment or applying for a mortgage.   

When people cannot afford a safe, decent place to rent, they may be forced to make the painful choice between unsafe housing and homelessness.  In our society we often tell the story that the choice is the result of an individual failing, rather than talking about the structural inequalities that create the conditions for widespread housing instability and homelessness.  We also ignore how experiencing housing instability or homelessness creates other barriers to moving out of poverty.  For example, finding and keeping employment is harder when you do not have a stable address, a place to shower, or a closet to hang up your dress clothes.   

It is immoral to resign some families – poor, mostly Black and brown families – to live in substandard housing in under resourced neighborhoods.  It is immoral to continue policies that concentrate affordable housing units in cities already facing high poverty levels, and zoning laws that make it almost impossible for affordable housing and multifamily houses to be built in wealthier suburban towns. It is immoral to not devote the resources needed to address the root causes of homelessness.  People are suffering, and our policy makers must work in earnest to remove the barriers to accessing safe, affordable housing in any town that an individual or family wishes to live.   

The common good requires that we work for the realization and protection of each person’s basic human rights.  One of the basic principles of Catholic Social Teaching is that each person is made in the image of God and deserves dignity. Protecting dignity entails that we support policies that create permanent housing solutions for individuals and families experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.  It also entails that we advocate for policies that enable people to have equal access to opportunities and freedom from discriminatory practices.  

Policy Solutions

In Connecticut: 

• Urge Governor Lamont to fund a robust rental assistance fund for residents, regardless of immigration status. If the state does not provide sufficient support for struggling individuals and families during this public health crisis, we will soon have eviction and homelessness crises as well. 
• More investment in affordable housing: both building new affordable housing units and making improvements to existing public and private affordable housing. 
• Move more people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing, following the example of plans to permanently house 1,800 people in the midst of COVID-19. Work with social service agencies to provide supportive services for those who need them. 
• Dismantle exclusionary zoning laws that create barriers to building affordable housing and multifamily units in many suburban towns (more here). 

Nationally: 

• Urge your Members of Congress to support the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act (S. 3685/H.R. 6820) which would provide $100 billion in emergency rental assistance, which is particularly needed during the economic recession associated with the COVID-19 pandemic  
• Increase the value of Section 8 vouchers so that people have more access to renting in higher cost areas  
• Advocate for increased enforcement of Fair Housing protections, by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Raise the minimum wage to a living wage, so that decent housing is not economically unattainable  

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