Problem Finding Affordable Housing

Finding affordable housing has been a big problem during the last three decades. This paper will explore the causes and the consequences of the crisis. It will also state some possible solutions that will be based upon the government and the people’s contribution.
Housing has been the biggest bill for a family in these days. Every year the price to rent a single apartment rises. The landlords have to keep raising the cost in order to pay the taxes and mortgage that are imposed to them. Failing to meet their obligations will result in the lost of their building.
People in necessity can not rent these apartments because they do not have a good income. The price to rent an apartment in most cities now reaches 600 hundred dollars every month with only one bedroom. Sometime their job lay them off while in addition to their bill, they have family to be fed and dressed. Some of them do not have any kind of employment at all.
Families that can not afford an apartment by themself sometimes share with cousins, brothers, aunts, and uncles. It is not unusual to see more than ten people living in a small room together. At night two or three people may sleep in one bed. Those who do not have a bed sleep on sofa or on the floor. When all these people sleep together, they do not receive enough oxygen. They are exposed to carbon dioxide that can cause serious illness to them.
Worst of all, some people can not get a place to sleep at all. They sleep under boxes, in cars, and in abandoned houses and building where women and children can get raped. They do not have heat to help them survive in the cold temperature. The broken houses often do not have a good roof to exempt them from raining period.
Some days, those homeless people are running without food. They don’t have anything for themselves and their children. Little kids would possibly spend a complete day without tasting a potato chip. Witnessing someone who is looking through a trash container to obtain something to eat is not strange in our big cities today. It is unbelievable to imagine that the United States, which pretends to be the world’s richest country, has people living in such condition.
Many children who are in the streets are also the result of this crisis. Those kids who do not have any kind of support from anybody just have to find a way to survive. Here they are causing serious security problems. They do not go to school, nor get a basic family instruction. They are in the streets involved in crime, robbery and many other dishonest activities.
The government has tried many projects to solve the problem. Recently, billions of dollars were spent to build more houses. In 1981, the government invested $32 billion, but within 8 years the amount had been reduced to $9 billion, which had caused a surplus of homeless in that period of time. Another $34 billion were spent again in 1990 for more housing and routine maintenance (Dreier, Appelbaum 18).
Social organizations have also done many to improve the situation. The Central Arizona Shelter Services, Inc. provides home for 400 single adults. The case managers work with the people on an individual basis to determine their needs and their appropriate length of time (http://www.amug.org/~helpnet/). The Center for the Homeless, another powerful organization who has saved a featured NBA first round pick from the street, provides not only home but free food and material goods (http://www.center-for-homeless.com). The Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) offers a wide range of services including case management, vocational training, immediate referrals for medical and mental health care, outreach to the street and encampments, and transitional and permanent housing (http://homepages.together.net/~cots/help.html). There exist many other associations that are giving similar assistance to the needy.
The question is if so much has done, why could not the situation have improved. It seems we need everybody’s contribution to the factor. We can call for a national fundraising where we can gather money from all the 50 states through institutions like churches, school, colleges, and local groups. Since low wages is one of the important factors of the case, it will be good if a minimum wage of about $8 an hour is imposed. Also, more jobs need to be available to the public. The government has to lower taxes on housing that the landlords will make it easier for someone to afford an apartment.
As I previously stated, the housing crisis is a very dominant factor in the country. I think every American should be concerned about the crisis and give whatever to save these poor people. We do not have to wait only for the government support, but we can do much more to improve the problem. It will be good if we support the organizations for all the charities they have done to save the homeless.