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Last Visited: 7/15/2009
Marcie Porter, an affordable housing advocate from Huntsville, said it is odd to hear about a housing crisis as a new situation.
"There already was a housing crisis in Alabama for a long time for people who don't have much money," said Porter, president of the Low Income Housing Coalition of Alabama.
The group of more than 70 organizations working on the issue hopes for effective local as well as statewide solutions.
Porter also serves on the Interim Alabama Housing Trust Fund Task Force the Legislature formed earlier this year to help develop the framework for a state affordable housing trust fund.
The current housing crisis makes things worse for the most vulnerable people, Porter said.
In times when state budgets are tight, existing programs funded by year-to-year appropriations are often the first programs to get cut, she said.
"The population that really pulls at my heartstrings are the elderly and disabled who really want to be independent but cannot afford much," Porter said.
In some places, public housing is not appropriate, even if it is available, she said.
Now, more foreclosures and job instability drive more people to search for less expensive housing.
Porter said the current climate makes it harder for the most vulnerable people to find a place to go, especially renters.
...
Porter tells the story of a young mother living in marginally safe public housing with her 6-year-old son as an example of the people a trust fund could help.
She calls them people who fall through the cracks of the public system now and often end up deeper in poverty.
"She worked full time at a college and went to school, too," Porter said.
Originally the young mother had a child care subsidy that allowed her to pay for safe after-school care for her son while she worked and went to school, Porter said.
The subsidy ended with tight state finances and she could not afford to pay for day care.
The mother was afraid to leave her son with people she did not know well in the public housing complex where she lives.
The college job she had with flexible hours ended and she got behind on her bills.
Porter said she worked with multiple groups to find a way to help the young mother pay her rent, utilities and phone bill.
The search took a while but she finally found help and called the woman.
"The last time I tried to contact her, her phone was disconnected.
We lost contact.
I don't know what happened," Porter said.
One lost service led to a snowball effect for the young mother, she said.
She also thought about the child.
"If you have a safe, decent roof over your head, you can learn so much better," said Porter.
"You can look for work so much more effectively if people have a way to contact you."
The situation for poor elderly people may be different, but it is one that puts them equally at risk, Porter said.
"A lot of elderly people are housed, but not well.
They have a roof over their heads but they can't afford the repairs to keep the roof from falling in," she said.
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