Depth PR 

Proof from the Depths: Case Studies

There’s No Place Like Home

(When Housing Becomes a Privilege)

An award-winning speech Kerri Milam developed for Georgia's lieutenant governor in January, 1993, to address the Georgia General Assembly's Annual Prayer Breakfast

Perhaps there was a time when we could afford to take things for granted. Things such as the wholesomeness of the food on our table . . .or the safety of our children at play in their own backyard . . . Or the certainty of our family ties . . . And, yes, there was a time when we could take for granted the security of a place to call home.

What is it about this place called home?

There is no image more compelling, no theme more prevalent, no idea more potent in all our nation’s lore. Home is an ideal of such tremendous significance to our heritage that we refer to individual home ownership as The American Dream.

But, economics, indifference, and other forces have conspired to threaten that dream. And not only the dream of home ownership, but with it the many other dreams that come with the simple security of a decent, affordable refuge in which to conduct family life.

You see, although homeownership is our dream, home is not necessarily a house that we own. Home can be any place that is warm, safe, clean, and private and, above all, stable. Home can be, and for many Georgians is, a rented house or an apartment.

But, for many of our citizens, we have reached a shameful milestone where even quality, affordable rental housing has become a privilege. Sadly, it is clear that in Georgia today there is a severe shortage of housing suitable for lower income families. Both home ownership and rental housing are suffering. And, as a result, our families are suffering.

While new, higher priced homes are relatively plentiful; quality homes at moderate prices are scarce – especially in non-metro areas of the state. Down payments and closing costs alone are beyond the means of many moderate-income Georgians. And although new “luxury” apartment complexes are commonplace and very profitable for urban and suburban developers, they can come with very high rents and do not necessarily provide a suitable environment for family life.

Moderate-to-low priced rental housing of all kinds is in painfully short supply because there simply isn’t adequate financial incentive for their development.

Furthermore, the ranks of Georgians who periodically fall into homelessness or are chronically homeless is swelling. Whether because of economic downturns or personal problems, some Georgia families are caught in a free fall. Unfortunately the social services system often doesn’t detect these imminent disasters until they fall through the cracks.

Each of these situations undermines the overall health and well being of our communities. The survival of the family unit itself sustains a devastating body blow when housing is unstable. I am here today to share with you my strong conviction that there is an irrefutable connection between our state’s housing problems and our family problems.

For far too many people in our state and in states across the nation, appropriate and reasonably priced housing has become a privilege. A privilege earned at far too great an expense for the social and economic well being of this state.

In short, our people deserve better.

Sure, some may say, that’s what housing advocacy groups are supposed to tell us. But is housing really becoming a privilege? For anyone who has any doubts, I say: take a look at the cities and counties across this state, as I have. Better still, take a look today at the state’s own Comprehensive Report on Housing Affordability.

The housing community calls this report the CHAS. It is an easier way to say Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy. And, as much as we have been saying it lately, we could use a short version.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, the CHAS is an immediate and long-term planning tool required by a new federal housing initiative. This historic initiative is the Home Investment Partnership Program – or the HOME program – and it was prescribed by the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990. I’ll return to the HOME program in a moment. For now, though, let’s consider what the CHAS tells us about housing in Georgia.

In summary, the CHAS documents an undeniable scarcity of decent affordable housing throughout the state. Eighteen percent of Georgia’s approximately 2 million households have a housing problem (that’s 400,000 families and individuals).

Homeownership is only readily available to half of the state’s low and moderate-income households. Low and moderate income applies to about 40 percent of Georgia’s households (that’s 800,000 families and individuals). The rate of homeownership in Georgia did not increase during the 1980s, while the rate of homelessness has accelerated.

The CHAS further reports that 15 percent of Georgia’s households are cost-burdened – meaning that they pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing expenses.

Imagine, if you can, a family of 4 struggling at an annual household income of $20,000, or take-home of $15,000. That’s about $1,250 monthly, minus about $416 for rent or mortgage payment, leaving roughly $800 to cover food, clothing, utilities, transportation and medical costs for 4 people – less than $7 a day per person. Forget about insurance; forget about savings; forget about education; forget about vacations or leisure or recreational activities.

Cost burden means bare bones existence and no safety net.

The CHAS also shows that some 42,000 Georgia households live in substandard conditions. What is substandard? It depends. Substandard could mean no indoor plumbing, or a leaking roof, a crumbling foundation, rotting floor, or some combination of these.

Our elderly comprise more than 40 percent of those households that qualify as substandard. Most substandard housing is rural rental housing. The figures for homelessness in Georgia are just as depressing. Estimates vary upward to as many as 57,000 Georgia homeless on a given day. And although Atlanta provides a particularly high profile stage for the plague of homelessness, it is a problem that besets the entire state, and its true extent is shrouded by social stigma.

Lack of affordable housing, homelessness, and other housing problems are direct links to our numerous chronic social problems including malnutrition and hunger, health care problems, domestic violence and emotional problems for our children.

Somewhere between unaffordable substandard housing and homelessness lies the problem. Our housing stock simply does not meet the needs of many Georgia families. In fact, the shortcomings of our housing stock discourage healthy, cohesive family units.

I suggest to each of you here today that in a society where decent affordable housing becomes a privilege beyond the economic means of even our working poor – the fabric of our families will grow threadbare.

Is it any wonder? Without a place to call home, how can our families thrive?

Home is where our families establish the roots and routines that anchor them in troubled times. Home is where mothers and fathers provide the discipline and love that our children must have to succeed.

Without a place to call home, where can our people grow?

Home is where we go to plan our futures and celebrate our traditions. Home is where we are free to express our individuality and where we learn our value systems. Home is where our workforce returns to renew its strength and enjoy the fruits of its labor.

I am here today because I understand – and I urge my peers in the General Assembly to also understand – that housing is of fundamental importance. Even more crucially, I urge the state’s lawmakers to consider why housing is of fundamental importance.

When decent affordable housing is a privilege, our families will fail. And when our families fail, all the king’s horses and all the king’s men will not be able to put them together again. And if you don’t believe that in 1993, you truly are living in a fairy tale.

So I am bringing this message today. Those of you in the nonprofit housing community that have worked with such dedication and with such modest resources: take heart. The passage of the National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 was a signal of relief for housing woes.

And the governor’s 1993 budget recommendation to fund a state match for HOME is a signal of Georgia’s wholehearted support for the objectives of HOME. I agree with that item in the governor’s budget and entreat the state senate as a body to signal its approval for a $2 million state match to the federal HOME program.

I also agree strongly with continuous funding for Georgia’s Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless and if state revenues allowed, I would push for an even higher level of funding. The trust fund has been a godsend for homeless shelters and affordable housing programs across the state. It matches federal homeless program funding and leverages millions in private sector participation.

The State Trust Fund for the Homeless plays a pivotal role in alleviating the dilemma of homelessness in Georgia. For that reason, I believe the time is right for the legislature to seek viable sources for permanently funding the Georgia Trust Fund for the Homeless. This has been accomplished in other states through various mechanisms that deserve consideration in Georgia.

Again, I call on Georgia’s esteemed Senate to leave intact and approve the governor’s recommendation of $3.375 million for the Georgia Trust Fund for the Homeless.

But, despite the paramount importance of these items, there is more – much more – that must be done to ease Georgia’s housing woes.

There are barriers to affordable housing in Georgia. Some are obvious and glaring. Others are hidden in the subtle layers of local government development ordinances or obfuscated in our tax regulations, or enshrined in city housing codes. These barriers present unnecessary and, for the most part, unintended stumbling blocks to affordable housing.

I would like to announce from the podium today my support for the creation of a joint study committee on barriers to affordable housing in Georgia.

Furthermore, while I have the ears of so many key players in Georgia’s housing advocacy communities, I have an entreaty for you as well. There is no voice as powerful in the halls of state government as the organized voice of our constituents. By that, I mean that the power of grassroots support has unparalleled influence.

I encourage Georgia’s multi-faceted and multi-talented housing concerns – nonprofits and private sector, alike – to align and enact a political coalition. Such a coalition can bring Georgia’s housing needs together in a more unified and more easily understood voice to state leadership.

Moreover, when all the housing interests represented in this room today – public, private, nonprofit – begin acting in partnership, the result will be a true stimulation of the low-to-moderately priced housing market. This of course is far preferable to stimulating growth by just throwing government money at the problem.

The days of taking for granted our most precious birthrights are over. And we remain perilously close to losing them. But, there is in the air these days a sense of reclaiming. And as we all work to pull the American dream from the brink, I’d like to applaud those of you who refused to let a place called home become a privilege.