There were about 580,466 people who were homeless in America in January 2020. However, only about 30% of these people were on the streets. About 70% of these were individuals, while there the rest were people with family and children. Almost every state had homeless people.

This was right before the pandemic hit the world between February and March 2020. If it seemed bad already, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the national homelessness crisis. However, the untimely evictions weren’t the only issue caused by the pandemic.

As a consequence of the lockdown imposed to flatten the curve of coronavirus, the people who were already homeless become more visible. A lot of people who were homeless before the pandemic were able to stay under the radar by means such as couch-surfing, spending time in cheap bars and pubs, or even falling asleep on park benches from time to time. However, the restrictions prevented them from using these means, and there was no place to hide anymore.

The result of affordable housing became more important than ever. Yet, there was no viable solution that could be put into place immediately.

Can Workforce Housing Programs Provide a Solution?

Workforce housing is a program that aims to provide safe and affordable housing to people in need. There are mainly two programs that are officially functioning at the moment. Housing Choice Vouchers or Section 8, which focuses on people and households with very low income. And Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, that generally targets households with middle-incomes.

In theory, the workforce housing programs can provide a lasting solution to the homelessness crisis in the country. However, putting into practice may not be as easy as is seems.

The number of buildings and complexes that can be used to accommodate people in need are very limited. Yet, the number of people who can qualify for these programs is increasing by the day. Therefore, it can be difficult to meet the demand. In addition to that, a lot of people are still skeptical about such housing programs, as they believe it is bad for the economy.

However, it is possible to find a fix for the affordable housing crisis by working on Workforce Housing programs.

For starters, it is important to raise awareness about workforce housing programs among the general population. When people start learning that it isn’t bad for the economy, and can actually be beneficial for local economies, they may become more open to investing in such programs. And when there is more money to invest, the people in authority can put it to good use to provide people with affordable housing.

Bottom Line

In order to end homelessness and provide affordable housing to people, it is crucial that everyone work together to improve the workforce housing programs. If you want to learn more about the programs, stay up-to-date with Maxwell Drever, who is working day and night to increase awareness about these programs.