Email: Joshua Newton

Greetings,

The month of April has gone well. I had the first week of April off and was able to return to Texas and spend some time relaxing and looking for a teaching job. I have reached the point where I have begun to think about what I will be doing once I finish my work here in Atlanta at the beginning of August, and I have been applying to and interviewing with a few different school districts in Texas. At the very end of March we had a married couple, Beau and Teagan, join us in our house, so we now have a community of seven people who are doing work in non-profits around Atlanta. They have been in Atlanta since September and had been living in another house. They needed a change in their living situation, and they were able to move into our spare bedroom.

At work I had a bit of a break for about a week. We had a few rooms available that we were unable to fill right away for various reasons, but we have filled the shelter up again and now have six families with twenty kids. A number of the families that recently moved out were able to get into transitional housing programs, and most of those mothers have found jobs. Transitional housing is usually a one- to two-year program that allows families to build up some savings that they can use for deposits and the first month of rent for an apartment. It is always very exciting to see them move out and take one more step on the way to being able to completely support themselves. I do miss the kids once they leave, but I am always glad that they are able to move into a house of their own.

Last month I wrote about the devastating effects of low-wage jobs on workers and their families, especially how those low wages can affect some of the families that we see in our shelter. Another issue that many of the mothers and families in both our shelter and transitional housing program face is a lack of affordable housing. For housing to be considered affordable, HUD and most financial planners agree that it should not cost more then 30 percent of your annual income. People who spend more then that on housing may have trouble meeting all of their other expenses, including childcare, food, transportation, savings, and health care.

A problem that many of our mothers face is that they cannot find housing that is affordable in comparison to their salaries. According to HUD, a person working at minimum wage cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States. For larger families, a three- or four-bedroom apartment may be out of the question. Since they are usually supporting their family by themselves, this is a situation many of our mothers encounter; if they are in low-wage jobs, they may not be able to afford housing for themselves and their children. A number of our mothers are able to get into transitional housing programs, but there is a shortage of these programs around the country as well. Section 8 and other government subsidies can help with this problem. Most recipients of Section 8 are required to spend only 30 percent of their income on housing, thus making the housing affordable for them. But many cities around the country have a waiting list to get a Section 8 voucher. In Atlanta, the waiting list for Section 8 is estimated at between four and five years. Being placed on a waiting list for that long does not help you if you need the assistance right now to be able to afford a house or an apartment.

A lack of affordable housing is a major problem that needs to be dealt with. This could be done in multiple ways, but I think that as a faith community we need to explore ways to help make sure that everyone can find and obtain housing that they can afford. This can be done by supporting the work of non-profit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity that provide affordable housing to families or by encouraging our government on all levels to make more resources available to people who need housing assistance. As a community and as a society, we need to ensure that every person and every family has the opportunity to have a roof over its head, no matter how much they make.

Sincerely,

Joshua Newton