Dear Mr. President ...

The Sunday Times Argus included my letter to President(-elect) Barack Obama, which was published within today's edition, as follows (here; 3rd of 3 letters posted).

Sunday, January 18, 2009
Times Argus
[Barre - Montpelier, Vermont]
Opinion section
Perspective
Dear Mr. President
Vermonters offer their thoughts to Barack Obama

[photo and photo caption; omitted]

Published: January 18, 2009

The Times Argus and Rutland Herald invited readers to address an open letter to President-elect Barack Obama in advance of his historic inaugural. Here are some of the responses we received:

[...]

Congratulations on your election as our next president.

There is a dire need to address the longstanding affordable housing and homelessness crisis within our nation.

The National Housing Trust Fund might prove to be an empty promise and not enough to address the need, not only because, as I understand it, the program would not begin drawing down monies until around 2010 or so, but now that the funding source was dependent on a stream from Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, and those programs are in peril and have basically been taken over by the government, it remains to be seen if the funding will be there for what is required for building and growing the trust fund. This is neither good nor soon enough to address the problems at hand, either in the short or long term.

It is crucial not to make the errors of previous administrations, as well as Congress, and allow these problems to continue to be ignored. Nor it is enough to simply throw money at it in the manner as has been the case thus far.

What is required to address homelessness among all those in need is affordable housing. Due to the serious need and also limited resources, considering everything else the government needs to address during this time of economic crisis, and not being able to do everything needed, what helps most in helping people get and stay housed is affordable housing, as well as offering a menu of "voluntary" supports (i.e., without strings attached). Homeless shelters and transitional housing are not what works best and are only poor Band-Aid solutions, ones which cost lots of money and help only relatively few people.

Affordable housing needs to be understood as a crucial infrastructure need within the local community, county, state and nation as important and vital as roads and bridges are to the economic engine and vitality of our communities, counties, states and nation.

It is also important to keep in mind there is a dire need in rural areas, as well, and not just in urban areas. In fact rural areas have been seriously neglected for far too long.

Instead of going to Mars or worrying about the space station or other such boondoggles, let us prioritize housing as a fundamental right rather than either a privilege of those who can most afford it or a limited entitlement with never enough to go around to meet the need.

Both training and putting people back to work in building and repairing existing housing, including making it energy-efficient in all regards, would help provide needed jobs as well as the housing many are in need of, including those most in need as well as those whose incomes make it tough if not impossible to own their own or even rent an affordable residence.

With all this in mind, it might be good to also consider newer and better means of housing, including building various types of housing along the lines of what is termed as Katrina cottages, depending on the housing needs and family size. This sort of housing would be more energy- and cost-efficient, as well as take up less land, etc.

Rather than depending on the type of huge apartment or housing complexes that either the private or public housing community have long relied on, which are usually very expensive as well, housing along the lines of the Katrina cottages in the mix would also help lend to homeownership options, particularly for those like myself who subsist on limited incomes and are Section 8 housing choice voucher eligible, if only there were the affordable housing available to use such a voucher with.

One last thought on the subject is that people who live or formerly have lived homeless are not the problem, we are part of the solution. Thus one of the things that need changing is for programs and providers to stop doing stuff to or for us and to instead work with us at all levels and stages, including by having those who are or formerly were living homeless to be at the table in an equal and full manner as experts as anyone else from planning to implementation, whether it be at the systemic level or during the process of a person seeking help to address their needs. We often know best what works and what does not, although we are not usually used to being included in meaningful ways, except maybe merely as tokens whose opinions and input are typically ignored or dismissed.

With everything else your new administration will be duly focused on, please do not forget those of us in serious need of real, affordable housing opportunities sooner rather than later.

Thank you in advance for any consideration given to these concerns.

Morgan W. Brown Montpelier