 Dear Friend,Jordan Flaherty, award-winning journalist and author, very often of inconvenient truths surrounding social justice, has written “There can be no fairness or justice in a society in which some live in homelessness, or the shadow of that risk, while others cannot even imagine it”.
In April of 1968, on the heels of the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) disability or family status.
Each April, communities around the country celebrate April as Fair Housing Month. In the 55 years since the passage of this landmark legislation, there have indeed been great improvements for those simply trying to access, or stay stably housed in a decent place to live. That said recent data from our partners at the National Low Income Housing Coalition in their annual report The Gap share with us that even though inflation has cooled and rent prices have flattened:
- There are only 33 affordable and available homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households.
- In 2022, of the 7 million homes affordable to this population, only 3.7 million were available due to either intentional vacancy or current occupancy by other low-income renters.
- 72% of renters (11 million nationwide) are severely housing cost burdened, spending more that half of their income on shelter.
At PSHH we are building as quickly as we can, where we can. But even with over 1,000 units of housing in our production pipeline we are simply not keeping pace with the incredible need on the Central Coast.
Later this month, we will be launching a new quarterly publication, The Blueprint. The aim is to provide you with the data and thoughtful commentary from a range of sources needed to remain an engaged and informed advocate for affordable housing. I hope you’ll subscribe.
Ken Trigueiro
CEO & President |
Resident-Centered Care
