Helping other needy Americans
AMERICANS' outpouring of support for those who have suffered from natural disasters, either from the tsunami, the earthquake in Pakistan and India, or Hurricane Katrina, shows true generosity of spirit. Americans offered millions of dollars to clothe, feed, and shelter those who have lost everything.
Federal and state governments housed victims in stadiums and military barracks and spent millions of dollars to maintain in motels people who have nowhere else to live. But what about those with no homes who weren't victims of a natural disaster? Are they any less worthy of our concern, generosity, or of a governmental response to address their needs?
Each Thursday I and judges throughout the state hear cases involving the eviction of tenants who can no longer afford to live in their apartment or house. Who are these people?
A husband and wife hold hands as the wife tearfully explains that her husband has been working two jobs but was recently laid off from the more profitable position. They have three children, ages 12, 9, and 5, and can no longer afford the $1,100 rent.
Two young children hold onto the legs of their mother, who is raising them on her own. She gets no child support from their father and has been working two jobs to pay the rent. A father is raising his mentally ill daughter. She receives services as a special needs student in the local school. He has looked for other apartments within the school district, none of which he can afford. If he loses the apartment, he will not only lose their home but his daughter may lose her special education services.
A woman has been abandoned by her husband and left with four children. He did not pay the last two months' rent.
A couple in their 60s have lived in the same apartment for many years. He lost his employment after 18 years on the job, his employment benefits have been exhausted, and he has no income to pay the $800 in rent.
The government has rightly responded to those made homeless by Hurricane Katrina by providing short-term shelter and a promise to rebuild long-term housing. The government must respond equally to the unemployed, single mothers, and the families whose income is insufficient to meet the cost of shelter, all of whom are equally homeless through circumstances often beyond their control.
A recent report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition indicates that a person in Massachusetts would have to earn nearly $21 per hour to afford the fair market rent for a two bedroom apartment in Massachusetts. According to Citizens Housing and Planning Association, the median rent in Greater Boston is approximately $1,400 for that two bedroom apartment. In the year 2000, approximately 270,000 families and individuals in this state were paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing and 157,000 households had to use more than 50 percent of their income to pay for rent.
We need to match the commitment that the government has displayed to disaster victims to produce new affordable housing. There are numerous proposals pending: smart growth to develop housing in proximity to urban transportation centers, the development of brownfields to create residential programs, rehabilitation of existing abandoned properties, and the use of Chapter 40B and Chapter 40R private development programs to create new affordable units.
According to the association, overall funding for the state's creation and preservation of housing has remained the same over the last three years. It has called for an increase in the bond cap for the Department of Housing and Community Development and in funding for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The state and federal government must match the generosity of the American spirit in reaching out to the newly homeless by making a commitment to the creation of new affordable shelter.
Mark S. Coven is first justice of the Quincy District Court. 
