John,

I wanted to make sure you saw the previous email from Deborah. Specifically, I wanted to make sure you saw this part:

“According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), on any given night in 2022, 582,500 people were experiencing homelessness—with 72% of adults experiencing homelessness also having children present.”

The Children’s Defense Fund recently released a report showing that 1 in every 45 children enrolled in public schools in the United States is unhoused, with a disproportionate number having disabilities, being non-native English speakers, and children of color.¹

We know that the pandemic hit families with babies and small children the hardest. We also know that safe, stable housing is crucial to the emotional, mental, and intellectual development of babies and children (and helps everyone else, too).

In their State of Babies Yearbook: 2023, our friends at Zero to Three explain how babies and toddlers who grow up in crowded housing due to poverty are at risk for increased respiratory infections and other infectious diseases.² And that children who experience the trauma of homelessness are much more likely to experience negative outcomes that may last for years.

Congress must do what is right and invest in affordable housing and homelessness programs for vulnerable communities and families with children. They can start by:

• Expanding—not cutting— investments in affordable, accessible homes and opposing any harmful amendments

• Ensuring full funding for public housing operations and repairs

• Allocating the Senate’s proposed funding for Homeless Assistance Grants

• Protecting funding for legal assistance to prevent evictions

• Appropriating the House’s proposed funding for Native housing

• Providing the Senate’s proposed funding for Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) and Project-Based Rental Assistance programs

Join us and our coalition partners in calling on Congress to invest in—not cut—housing programs.

Thank you for all you do,

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ The State of America’s Children 2023
² The Hidden Developmental Threat of Unstable Housing

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

Everyone deserves affordable, accessible, stable housing and in order to reach this goal, our federal government must invest in—not cut—critical housing programs. Congress has underfunded housing and homelessness resources for decades and now, after three years of a pandemic, dramatic increases in housing costs, and price gouging by corporate landlords, more people need housing help than ever before.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), on any given night in 2022, 582,500 people were experiencing homelessness—with 72% of adults experiencing homelessness also having children present.¹

Millions are facing higher housing costs and housing instability, with only one in four eligible households able to participate in federal rental assistance because of lack of funding from Congress.² Because of continually increasing rents charged by landlords, Congress must annually increase HUD funding just to maintain current levels of assistance.

Housing is a basic human right. America is the wealthiest nation on earth and there is no reason why everyone cannot be securely housed. Send a message to Congress demanding they invest in housing and community services, not put these critical programs at risk.

While Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown, the stopgap spending bill proposed by right-wing Republicans in the House—which did not pass—proposed a 30% cut in non-defense spending, which would have decimated HUD programs.

Congress has until November 17th to work out a budget deal to keep the federal government funded for FY2024 and we—as advocates and members of directly impacted communities—must do all we can to ensure that funding for HUD programs is increased to keep up with incredible need.

We’re joining our coalition partners and demanding members of Congress oppose any budget proposals or amendments that would cut federal investments in affordable housing and homelessness programs, including:³

• Eliminating funding for the Housing for Persons with AIDs (HOPWA) program

• Cutting in half funding for Community Development Block Grants

• Reducing HUD funding by either $4.95 billion or to FY2019 levels

• Cutting funding for fair housing activities and rental assistance

• Undermining HUD’s ability to use evidence-based approaches to address homelessness

• Forcing mixed-status immigrant households to separate or face eviction from HUD housing

• Prohibiting HUD from implementing or enforcing its Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule

• Preventing HUD from providing financial assistance to certain able-bodied individuals

• Imposing rigid work reporting requirements and drug testing

We cannot ignore the fact that lack of access to affordable housing disproportionately impacts people with disabilities, communities of color, seniors, LGBTQIA people, and people with low-incomes. Without stable housing, people have difficulty accessing stable employment, education, and reliable health care. The effects can be felt for generations.

Join CHN and our partners in calling on Congress to fully invest in funding for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development.

Thank you for all you do to advocate for stable communities,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs

¹ The 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress
² Addressing the Affordable Housing Crisis Requires Expanding Rental Assistance and Adding Housing Units
³ Take Action to Stop Harmful Amendments to FY24 Spending Bill and Protect Housing Investments!