I worked in a Youth Residential Behavioral Health Treatment facility and saw first hand the impact on children who have not had the most basic need of shelter in their lives. A lot of people do not hear or know about these children because of privacy laws but the majority of the youth I talked to had experienced homelessness with their birth parents. Their experiences impacted how they viewed the world, they were distrustful of all adults, never felt safe and unfortunately because we also do not invest in high quality trauma treatment had very little hope for success in life.
Allowing access to affordable safe livable housing for families is the foundation of a healthy, thriving community and the first step toward making KC a livable city for all it’s residents.
American psychologist Abraham Maslow’s psychological theory of needs shows that shelter is essential for the development needed to move onto subsequent levels of development. “Without shelter (and other things like food, oxygen, and drink), it is difficult, bordering on impossible, to fill the needs stacked higher to the top of the pyramid, such as: Health. Personal security. Apr 19, 2023″
Many working class mothers are working jobs that do not pay enough to afford a safe, livable place for themselves and their children. These mothers will go through a very strenuous process to get a housing voucher (this process can take up to a year and sometimes more) only to have landlords still refuse to rent to them. These families end up homeless, living in shelters, cars, alleys and homeless camps.
26,449 vacant housing units in KCMO
Providing affordable safe livable housing for families is the foundation of a healthy, thriving community!!!!
Issues – Low Wages, High Rents and SOI Discrimination
In Kansas City (May 2022) $18.50/hr. is the average wage in for essential work like these:
- community social service,
- Educational instruction/library,
- healthcare support,
- food preparation/serving,
- Building/grounds cleaning/maintenance,
- personal care/service
This is approximately $2,100 bring home a month depending on tax setting and insurance.
Additionally many landlords have a requirement that the renter makes 3x the rent. Based on the averages above, for a 3 bedroom apt (required for a single mother with 2 children of different gender) that would be $5,331. So to be able to afford this and only work 40 hrs a week a person would have to make over $33/hr..
Source of income discrimination is the refusal of property owners or managing agents to rent housing to a tenant on the basis of their source of income. This discrimination often targets tenants who receive income from housing assistance programs, like Section 8 vouchers, or direct cash payments, like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
Many renters affected by SOI discrimination have been disproportionately renters of color, women, and people with disabilities. 60 percent of voucher holders in Missouri are Black, and 43 percent are female-headed households with children. Source of income discrimination is modern day redlining. By banning this discrimination, Kansas City would be taking a huge step towards becoming a more just city.
BE FOR KIDS 