Letter: Government must intervene to prevent crippling homeless crisis

To the editor,

COVID-19 has underscored the meaning and value of home and shown how quickly solutions can be implemented when political will exists.

The expiration of New York’s moratorium on evictions will exact formidable stress and loss on countless low-income people already living paycheck to paycheck. The brunt of the economic fallout will be borne by these families, living in neighborhoods long disenfranchised by structural discrimination, racism, and inequality. 

The result: an unprecedented number of people facing crippling levels of rent arrears seeking help from an already under-resourced infrastructure of eviction prevention organizations across our country. 

Remedying this requires a combination of government measures with federal funding as the cornerstone. For instance, the HEROES Act, which proposes $100 billion in emergency rental assistance through the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act. 

Unless all levels of government step up now, homelessness will soar to unprecedented levels. This eventuality is as preventable as it is predictable. 

Áine Duggan

President/CEO

The Partnership for the Homeless