The Lehigh Valley housing market is an utter failure. From the top to the bottom, there is inadequate supply. And it will get worse. Of course, there is, as always, special misery for those whose incomes are limited.
When a market fails, historically, we used government tools to make the adjustments needed to stimulate the economy, invest in ourselves and show some mercy to those whose skills are not worth much in the marketplace. Unfortunately, in the more than 40 years I put into promoting action it was rare to see or hear an elected leader stand up for those we left behind.
It would be great if we could get a consensus that it would be a good thing if we all had places to call home; then we could move on to how we fix the problem. The first priority should be homelessness; it is an indictment of our society that it even exists. The biggest problem is housing for families with children. But there is much talk these days about homeless encampments. OK, let’s start there. Folks say they’re better than nothing. They aren’t. There are far too many of society’s flaws packed into one small place: addiction, mental illness, contagious illnesses, abusive treatment, theft. Various groups try to make the camps as tolerable as possible, take services in, coach them. The hospitals work pretty hard at it and deserve our thanks. But the reality is that we are a pretty pathetic community if the best we can do is fight for space near the railroad tracks.
Understand, there are residents of these little villages who don’t want to play by the rules and don’t want to deal with their issues. In most of the shelters, residents are required to sign an agreement, or social contract, that identifies their issues, lays out a plan for how they are going to address them and what happens if it is apparent to the staff that they aren’t trying. The shelters, appropriately, push residents to kick their habits, find a job and a place to live. If they show little or no ambition, they risk eviction. Many do. But some are somehow pulling it off.
A workable solution would be a network of three- and four-bedroom apartments that would function a lot like the “sophomore suites” in many colleges. Each tenant has a private bedroom and they all share the usual common spaces: bathroom, kitchen, living room. Residents have to earn their way in. Once they get in, if needed, they would be assigned a caseworker to make sure they’re paying their rent, taking their medications or therapy and taking responsible care of their home. Given the number of people in the encampments, we would need roughly 30 to 40 apartment units.
Those who say the lack of affordable housing is the number one cause of the problem are correct. Congress has been slashing funding for housing for more than 40 years and local municipalities don’t have the tax base or the political will to supplement it.
How do we pay for this, at a monthly cost per capita of roughly $1,500? Well, many of the homeless have Social Security Disability Income. So, they’d have to pay a fair share of their income on rent. Donations from private donors (i.e. you and me) would play a part. But the 800-pound gorilla is the hospitals.Financial reports indicated the area’s two health care systems, Lehigh Valley Health Network which recently merged with Jefferson Health, and St. Luke’s University Health Network, have liquid assets approaching $2 billion. They got that money from us: employers who paid the premiums, we who are paying the deductibles, philanthropists who donated money. If those two organizations put just 5% of those assets into an endowment it would generate $100 million to fund more and better behavioral health services. Conservative investments of those funds would raise $4 million per year.
Here is a fundamental truth: you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to help themselves. If we offer you the support you need and you refuse, our obligation ends. I believe the state hospitals were closed for the wrong reasons. We should bring them back. If you would rather sleep on a railroad right-of-way in freezing temperatures, you are not of sound mind.
Previous reports indicate there are probably more than 200 or so human beings sleeping outside tonight in the Lehigh Valley. It might be tolerable weather for that right now but another winter is on the way.
Friends, we can fix this problem. It’s time we did.
This is a contributed opinion column. Alan Jennings is the retired executive director of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author, and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. Do you have a perspective to share? Learn more about how we handle guest opinion submissions at themorningcall.com/opinions.
