$1.5 Billion HUD “Stimulus” Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program Hits the Streets. Temporary Assistance without Long-Term Solutions.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, recently began accepting applications for assistance. The programs design, in brief:

"HPRP funding is focused on providing short-and medium-term rental assistance to individuals and families who are currently in housing, but at risk of becoming homeless, and individuals and families who are homeless. Approximately $1.489 billion will be allocated for these purposes to states, metropolitan cities, urban counties and territories.”

It is obvious that the need for assistance for assistance in this nation, specifically for the homeless and those who are fiscally strapped due to fixed income restraints (specifically the elderly who rely on minimal social security benefits), is severe, that said, the premise of the program, with an intent towards “short-term” assistance to those who are currently homeless or about to become homeless – the crux, they must be able to fend for themselves after receiving said aid. If one is homeless, chances are great that one also does not have a job, and has also exhausted unemployment benefits. With the unemployment rate at 9.8%, the chances of gaining employment is minimal, therefore, the program itself (handing out checks without a program in place that offers re-education or resettlement) is little more than a “temporary” fix.

In Detroit $15 million was made available to “help residents pay bills and their rent or find temporary housing for the homeless.”
According to WDIV Detroit, thousands lined up for applications, falsely believing that they were going to receive a “stimulus check” for $3,000. A video is available on WDIV here
The report further states:

To qualify, a person must have been a resident of Detroit for more than six months must be homeless or facing eviction and must be able to maintain housing after receiving assistance.
Also, a resident must make 50 percent less than the median area income, which would be less than $24,850 for single Detroit residents and less than $35,500 for a family of four.
No mortgage assistance will be available through this program.

A host of other cities are reporting on the HUD Stimulus including:
St. Louis, Missouri, Camden, PA, and Manatee, Florida. Grants per city range from $8.4 million to a $10 Million dollar award to a homeless shelter in Los Angeles.

One has to wonder, however, if this program may have worked better if the resettlement and assistance for those who are able-bodied and have even limited job skills had come with, at the very least, employment of some sort. It is to the point, where a “workfare” program would serve the populace and the nation (similar to the programs instituted by FDR), allowing those who are merely seeking additional “entitlements”, the ability to “opt” out if they chose not to work, while giving those who have no employment prospects, the opportunity to build a work history, or maintain a work history, which will stand them in good stead, once the job market improves. With Government run programs, however, the risks remain. One merely needs to look at Massachusetts’ program to house the homeless in hotels to understand that programs are often designed in haste, permanently trapping individuals in poverty, who would otherwise contribute to society, if only given the opportunity.

Granted, what is being suggested is another government program, that said, one in which taxpayers dollars are spent to a)aid those who cannot aid themselves (the elderly), and those who are able, to offer temporary housing, utility payments in exchange for employment that would serve both the individual and the public. Understandably, it would still be big government, and subject to the natural course of corruption associated with most programs, yet, to those who are living without hope of any kind, it would offer an opportunity to provide for themselves and their families with dignity and the hope of a future.

A note: On the occasion of meeting a volunteer for a local soup kitchen, and asking what was most needed, the big request was for shower curtains – curtains are used to cover tents, where families, where both parents have lost jobs, and home, live under a City bridge. The shower curtains act as insulation. It is not that these families live there by choice; rather, if one owns a car, one is not able to receive housing assistance in Massachusetts – a ridiculous aspect of government regulations. Many would hold onto the vehicles for shelter as well as the hope of a job, and the ability to drive to and from, with an eye towards eventually being able to return to safe and secure housing. It is with this in mind, that monies given to those made homeless (and it is a situation that could happen to anyone at anytime), would be better spent if opportunity, even short term state and/or federal employment were offered.