Across the United States, there are homeless families doubled and tripled up with friends or family members, or staying temporarily in motels with the few dollars they have scraped together. Why? There are too few shelter beds available, and, more critically, there is a drastic shortage in affordable housing, leaving millions of families out of reach of a stable, livable home environment. Astoundingly, while few of us would consider “homes” like those acceptable, these families are actually considered adequately housed under current government guidelines. Families that are doubled- or tripled-up or living in motels are not included in the government’s tally of homeless Americans, and they aren’t getting the assistance they need.
These homeless families with children are the very people that are helped by Family Promise networks across the country. Family Promise is working hard to make all homeless families count. There is important bipartisan legislation, co-sponsored by 74 Republican and Democratic representatives, now under consideration in Congress that redefines “homeless” to include families who are doubled-up or living with others in squalid or unsafe conditions. The HEARTH Act (HR 840) will also redirect funding within the HUD budget to improve the system to address the needs of those children and families. Twenty years ago, President Ronald Reagan signed the landmark McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to tackle what was quickly becoming a homelessness crisis in the United States. The HEARTH Act is a significant continuation of that effort to help homeless Americans.
Family Promises supports the HEARTH Act, and we’ve enlisted the help of our affiliates across the country to make all homeless families count. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of McKinney-Vento, and to raise community-wide awareness about the continuing struggles of homeless families, more than 5,000 postcards signed by friends of our affiliates and calling for passage of the HEARTH Act were delivered to 86 elected officials on Capitol Hill in July.
In Germantown, PA, along with other local homeless service provider agencies, the Northwest Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network gathered at a news conference with Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), a co-sponsor of the HEARTH Act. Congressman Fattah was joined by community children in singing “Happy Birthday” to the McKinney-Vento Act, and explained that the proposed new legislation improves flexibility for local communities to prioritize spending on their own particular homelessness initiatives to make the most of federal funding.
For more information about Making Homeless Families Count, please contact
Beatrice Robbio, Director of Education and Public Policy.
