This country currently suffers from an affordable housing crisis. Nationally, a renter working full-time and earning the federal minimum wage cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment, and no state has an adequate supply of rental housing for low-income renters. Each year millions are evicted from their homes, putting them at risk of homelessness. Until this crisis is addressed, homelessness will persist. Action must be taken to increase affordable housing and provide protections against unjust foreclosures and evictions.
The connection between housing and homelessness is generally intuitive, but the strong link between health and homelessness is often overlooked. We know that poor health is a major cause of homelessness, homelessness creates new health problems and exacerbates existing ones, and that recovery and healing are more difficult without housing. Housing is health care.