Scenes from the Recession: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Public Housing Applicants

[dajoki]

Scenes from the Recession: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Public Housing Applicants
by Lauren Kelley August 14, 2010 08:03 AM (PT)
http://uspoverty.change.org/blog/view/scenes_from_the_recession_desperate_times_call_for_desperate_public_housing_applicants

How's this for terrifying? The housing crisis has become so severe in this country that earlier this week, as Megan Cottrell wrote, a "mob scene" broke out and 62 people were injured when triple the expected number of applicants showed up to apply for government-subsidized housing in an Atlanta suburb.

The East Point Housing Authority severely underestimated the number of people who would come to a local shopping center on Wednesday to obtain Section 8 applications, which, for some lucky individuals, will eventually lead to obtaining affordable housing vouchers. In all, some 30,000 people showed up — an astounding three-quarters of the town's population. Some people waited in line for as long as two days.

Confusion and frustration, combined with the Georgia summer heat, eventually took its toll on the crowd, and things turned ugly. Some people collapsed in the heat, while others rushed the building that housed the applications. As chaos started to take hold, adults and children began getting trampled. One baby went into a seizure. By the time the police got control of the situation, 20 people needed to be transferred to the hospital for medical care.

You can almost smell the desperation of those East Point residents, can't you? They were desperate for a reason: Section 8 currently accommodates about 15,000 people in the entire state of Georgia — and at least 30,000 people are in need of housing assistance in East Point alone. Thousands upon thousands of additional Georgians are on housing wait lists, but the majority of the lists in the Atlanta area have been closed for months, or in some cases years, due to the increase in demand for affordable housing that has come along with the Great Recession.

The good news is that the scene at the East Point Housing Authority application office was decidedly calmer the next day. But the bad news is that there's little hope most of the people gathered at that shopping center Wednesday will receive the housing assistance they need. Until our government steps up to the plate, the public housing application process could continue to be a contact sport.

[happy_liberal]

1. How hard can it be to provide low income housing with millions of homes on the market

Homes are being foreclosed on at dirt cheap rates, but the government cannot do anything to help provide low income housing to the people that have been screwed out of their homes by government policies? :grr:

The solution is so simple.

Government buys foreclosed properties.

Government creates jobs fixing up homes, dividing mcmansions into duplexes etc. creating low income housing for the millions who desperately need it.(thanks to them enabling the shipping of everyone's jobs overseas)

This government does not do a DAMN THING for the little people, why do they even exist?

Why do we pay these bastards to work for themselves? Why do they get pensions and health care for life?

When is enough ENOUGH!!

[dajoki]

2. Even in my small town...

there are at least three houses on every block just sitting and rotting. Its a shame because they could be put to good use.

[happy_liberal]

3. there must be some way to demand our politicians start working to help us

they sent the jobs overseass, they wasted the money that has driven us to this deficit they complain about...

they created the mess, they bailout the banks when they have a problem, but we get the shit sandwich.

This is just unforgivable.