Mass evictions: A hidden housing crisis
Originally published on August 11, 2018
This is part of the #HiddenDE campaign, which seeks to reveal the hidden issue of family homelessness in Delaware. 1 in 30 kids experience homelessness each year in Delaware — sign up to learn more.
Here are three recent news articles that caught our attention:
A hidden housing crisis in California after mass displacement of tenants
Across California, “investors are snatching up older apartment buildings and clearing out tenants,” then renovating units or building entirely new structures to “re-market them at sometimes double the rent,” according to Andrew Khouri in the LA Times. Displaced residents often can’t find affordable apartments and must grapple with sleeping in their cars, living doubled up with others, or renting motel rooms. Many owners of apartment buildings “only need to give 30 or 60 days notice to terminate a month-to-month lease” and don’t need to pay a relocation fee.
The former owners of one such building, the Driftwood, charged their dozens of tenants only $800 or less a month. The building’s new owners, who considered it a “unique” investment opportunity, evicted all of those residents, mostly families who had been there for decades, and nearly doubled the starting rent. In June, when they found out they would have to leave, they desperately began searching for new homes. Yet at the time, there were only three non-subsidized rentals in all of Los Angeles County for $800 or less, all studios or single rooms. “We are going to be homeless,” said one resident.
After weeks of fighting to be paid for relocation costs, the displaced residents learned they would each receive $2,000 — but only after they left, making it difficult to find a new place. “There is something so fundamental about having a home,” said Rachel Kimbro, a sociology professor at Rice University. “If that home is forcibly taken away from you that just destabilizes every aspect of your life.”
In Delaware, 5 out of every 100 renters face eviction each year. Since 2000, Delaware’s eviction rate has been more than twice the national average, according to the Eviction Lab at Princeton University.
Hidden in plain sight: A former Macy’s becomes a homeless shelter
A vacant Macy’s in Alexandria, Virginia now provides temporary shelter, meals, and shower facilities for 60 people experiencing homelessness, reports Michael Corkery in the New York Times. It’s located in a mall that was “at the vanguard of shopping” when it opened in 1965 — but now has only one operating store, Sears.
The mall’s owner plans to tear down the building and construct a new mixed-use space. In the meantime, it has “agreed to lease a portion of the former Macy’s to the shelter rent free through 2019” — a fortuitous turn for the nonprofit Carpenter’s Shelter, which needed a temporary location while it builds a new permanent facility.
“It’s weird to be moving into this building. I used to work here,” said Karleen Smith, who had previously been living in a car. “It’s called survival.”
Other cities, states, and countries are coming up with creative solutions to homelessness and affordable housing. Click here to see more!
The hidden costs of being broke
1 in 3 families struggle with buying diapers. For others, the cost of transportation becomes a “frustrating jigsaw puzzle” in their budget. People “experiencing economic hardship rely on their smartphones for internet access,” yet prepaid phone plans — which appear to offer bargains — are full of “sneaky charges.” Nationwide, “72 million Americans rely on Medicaid and CHIP for dental coverage, yet two-thirds of dentists do not accept either kind of coverage,” meaning many go without needed dental care. And many low-income individuals don’t have bank accounts, instead opting to regularly pay fees of 2–10% to cash their checks.
These stories and more are part of a new series, “The High Cost of Being Broke,” organized by Broke in Philly, a collaborative initiative “reporting on the issues of poverty and the push for economic justice in Philadelphia.” Homelessness, poverty, and economic instability are closely intertwined — and all these hidden costs can contribute to a housing crisis for those already living on the edge.
“There are countless ways in which those who have less end up paying more,” they write. “These small and large burdens cause stress and often take more time than utilizing services built for the financially secure. The heavy toll of broke-ness isn’t limited to the financial: it is physical, emotional, and psychological.”
Statewide in Delaware, about 13% of families with children live below the poverty level, according to the latest Census data. But this rate can vary drastically by location. In downtown Wilmington and surrounding neighborhoods, over 40% of families with children live below the poverty level.
Click here to get email updates like this from the #HiddenDE campaign. Follow the campaign on Instagram (@HiddenDE) to reveal hidden messages about family homelessness. Want to take action? Click here to see how you can end family homelessness.
Presented by Family Promise® of Northern New Castle County, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to ending family homelessness in Delaware. For more information, contact Ryan Catalani at ryan@familypromisede.org.
