The Federal Government is obligated by law to invest money in the National Housing Trust Fund, which should go inro housing for folks hit hard by the financial crisis – as well as folks hit hard by centuries of institutional racism and oppression!
But that money is MIA.
In fact, over $380 million is missing from the trust fund.
That’s why we’re suing the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
And that’s why we had this press conference yesterday.
All of our photos from the lawsuit-announcement press release are here.
A terrific article in the Wall Street Journal goes deep into the background of the suit.
Danielle Stelluto is one of those homeless Americans. She is a member of Picture the Homeless, one of Right to the City’s member organizations, and a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Stelluto is a single mother of a 5-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter, all currently living in a shelter in the Bronx, NY. Stelluto said after five months of living in a shelter, she was able to move into a three-bedroom house after receiving a housing voucher. After a year and a half, however, she lost the voucher after Mayor Bloomberg discontinued the program. She has since been living in a shelter, away from family and friends. Because of her long commute to work and her need to obey the shelter’s curfew, she had to leave her job and take a job as a home health aid, where she now makes less than $10,000 a year.
She added that Section 8 in NYC is closed, while the wait list for public housing in the city is 10 years.
Stelluto said:
I’ve been striving to pick myself up, but it seems almost impossible at times. I’ve never been more stressed out in my life, between my kids’ loss, the loss of the voucher and the loss of a roof over our heads. …I’ve dealt with depression, anxiety and feeling like I’m running on a hamster wheel.
Source : http://www.picturethehomeless.org/blog/node/392
See also : http://www.picturethehomeless.org/blog/node/391
