Sometimes, It's Hard to...
CROSS THE THRESHOLD TO DECENT SHELTER
By Karen Free


T here's no better expert on poverty than someone who's poor.

Take Audra Bean, for example. She's a 22-year-old, single mother from St. Louis, Mo. Today, she and her two sons are homeless. Until recently, she rented a one-bedroom apartment for $420 monthly. The $9.56 hourly wage she earned as a nighttime "cager" at a riverboat gaming establishment covered the cost of rent, utilities, child care, a $40 monthly bus pass and groceries -- with luck.

But Bean had to quit the job. Since a recent diagnosis of diabetes, and because she's lost the feeling in both heels, her doctor advised her to get a job where she can stay off her feet. She's already found another job at a nursing home where she can work evenings, but it pays only $5.35 per hour. She's well aware the new job won't provide a living wage, and is already considering switching jobs to become a cashier at a local restaurant because the job pays $8.50 per hour.

"I need to work nights so I can stay home with my son during the day," she explains. "But I need a job where I can stay off my feet. It's pretty hard to find an office job at night that you can get to without a car."

Bean's oldest son, 7-year-old Trevell, is in first grade. Her younger son, DeMarco, is 3. Shortly after his birth, he suffered a stroke, which left him developmentally delayed. He also has a seizure disorder. Although he is old enough to attend pre-school, Bean feels he would be "misunderstood a lot," and instead works with him at home.

"When I was young, I wanted to get married and have a little house with a bedroom for each of my children," says Bean. "I still have dreams; they've just changed. Now I want my kids to have better than I'm giving them. I've put myself in a ditch and I can't get out of it. If I could just find a place to stay that I could afford, then I could work on the rest."

Easier said than done, not only for Bean, but for millions of other families like hers. A report released last fall by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, showed that in order to afford the median fair market rent for a two-bedroom rental in the United States, a worker must earn an hourly wage of $11.08 -- more than twice the current federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour (in most states, with the exception of: Alaska, $5.65; California, $5.75; Connecticut, $5.18; District of Columbia, $6.15; Hawaii and Massachusetts, $5.25; and Oregon, $5.50).

Why is affordable housing so far out of reach for low-income workers? One reason is the high cost of land itself, and associated costs to develop it. Another is because much of the nation's aging housing stock is being replaced with new, costlier housing that at the same time far outpaces the wages of the working poor. A third is that federal support for affordable housing has been cut drastically in recent years -- according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 9 percent between 1993 and 1995, coupled with another 19 percent from 1996 to 1998, has resulted in the loss of 1.3 million housing units in the past seven years.

As a result, the number of families on waiting lists for public housing has increased, as has the length of time families' names are on the list: from an average of 22 months to 33 months in just two years in the largest public housing authorities, according to a 1999 HUD report.

Theoretically, Bean could apply for a "Section 8" voucher -- a government-backed housing subsidy that pays the difference between the fair market rent in a given area and 30 percent of a family's income (also called "tenant-based Section 8"). But the average wait on those lists is 28 months. In fact, Bean's sister's name just recently rose to the top of the list -- after a five-year wait.

Or, she could seek out a private landlord who has contracted with the government and thus receives a subsidy in exchange for keeping the rent costs low (also known as "project-based Section 8"). But many landlords, whose 20-year contracts with the federal government have come up for renewal in recent years, have opted out and quit the program, allowing them to charge market-rate rents. According to HUD, nationwide, more than 100,000 subsidized apartments have been converted to market- rate housing in recent years; average rents have increased 50 percent.

Life hasn't always been this difficult for Bean. She readily admits that getting pregnant at 15 "wasn't smart." Despite that, she graduated from high school, studied to become a certified nurse's assistant and, at one point, had a job with the state, working as a psychiatric hospital aide.

She rented a house, had a car, and was financially stable. But, she says, she allowed a relative to move in and items such as her computer and air conditioning unit began to disappear. Too late, she realized the situation had escalated beyond her control, and she opted for the simplest solution: She moved out. Things went downhill from there. Her car was impounded last summer because Bean was driving with expired plates. The registration fee was $225; the towing fee was $85, plus an additional $10 per day for every day it sat there. Bean didn't have that kind of money, nor did anyone in her family. She decided she had to let the car go, and now rides the bus.

"I blame myself for that one, " says Bean. "I was very depressed over that, and I've just now gotten to the point where I can talk about it."

Bean's challenges -- including housing -- are likely to continue for some time. Even though a statistical analysis conducted by Habitat for Humanity International in 1999 shows that 83 percent of the U.S. population is served by a Habitat affiliate, and that Habitat is at work in 46 percent of all U.S. counties, that still doesn't help Bean.

While Habitat for Humanity is able to help thousands of families in need of decent shelter -- it does require meeting three important criteria: demonstrated need, willingness to partner with Habitat, and the ability to repay a no-interest, no-profit mortgage.

At this point in time, Audra Bean lacks sufficient ability to pay back a mortgage. "My credit is pretty bad, because I've fallen behind on bills in the past, and I'm behind now," she says. "I've missed work when I've had to take my son to the doctor. Sometimes you can be at a doctor's office all day. I've learned that employers don't really care if you have a doctor's excuse for missing work; they want you there."

As for making ends meet, Bean is resourceful. She says she receives $200 per month in food stamps. The state provides medical insurance for the boys, and a friend cuts their hair for $3 each. The last time Bean recalls getting her hair done was four years ago. Clothing comes from thrift shops. "The only time I get a new outfit is for my birthday or Christmas," says Bean. "Nothing I own costs more than $20."

Inarguably, it's hard work being poor. Many feel that making affordable housing more readily and widely available is just half the solution. Hand-in-hand with low-cost housing, say many, must be an increase in the federal minimum wage.

U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a leading proponent in the debate to raise the federal minimum wage, offers a comparison.

"Workers at the minimum wage do not earn enough to pay for adequate housing," he says. "Nearly 10 million workers earn the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, and another 10 million earn less than $6.15 an hour. Working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, minimum-wage workers earn only $10,700 a year. For want of adequate housing, they have difficulty holding on to stable jobs. Their children grow up exposed to lead paint. They eat less and are colder in the winter because they must decide between paying the rent and buying groceries, between paying the heating bill or buying warm clothes.

"Others enjoying the unprecedented prosperity of our time have lavish rewards to show for it. The median salary and bonus for chief executive officers of privately held corporations in 1998 was $770 an hour," Kennedy says. "At that rate, it takes an average CEO less than two days to earn what a minimum wage worker earns in an entire year. The same CEO would work 64 minutes to earn the monthly fair market rent for a two- bedroom federally assisted housing unit in Washington, D.C. CEOs work hard and must make difficult decisions. Minimum wage workers, 40 percent of whom are the sole breadwinners in their families, also work hard and must make difficult decisions about how to pay for rent, food, clothing or medical care."

Audra Bean is living proof of that. Still, she says of her situation, "I'm not defeated, There's always hope. My mom says 'Pray. God will come through for you,' and he has. I thank God I can walk and talk. Things can't get any worse -- I'm at rock bottom. Things can only get better. I pray every day that things will get better."


Karen Free is associate editor of Habitat World.


"Poverty is like heat: You cannot see it, you can only feel it. So to know poverty, you have to go through it."
-- From World Bank's Web site, "Consultations with the Poor"


"We truly must be ashamed -- both as individuals and as whole towns and cities and ultimately as nations and the world -- to realize that fellow citizens, brother and sister human beings, are living in miserable conditions. Loving our neighbors as we love ourselves must become real."
-- Millard Fuller, founder and president, Habitat for Humanity International


Did you know:

Some 2 million people experienced homelessness in 1999, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty?

That in the third quarter of 1999, the median price of a new home was $160,000, while the average price was $196,900, according to The National Association of Home Builders?


"Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard."
-- Proverbs 21:13


"Faith in action is love, and love in action is service. By transforming that faith into living acts of love, we put ourselves in contact with God himself, with Jesus our Lord."
-- Mother Teresa


"My dream is to show my children a better way of life. They need to see that hard work does pay off, as opposed to living off 'the system.' I need a home where my children can feel comfortable "
-- Roxann McDade, Habitat homeowner, HFH of Greenville County (S.C.)


Reprinted from Habitat World Magazine, February/March 2000.
This article may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
©2000 Habitat for Humanity International