NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- As eviction moratoriums let up at the start of the new year, more families are likely to experience homelessness.

People without stable housing are at higher risk of exposure to the coronavirus. And with the onset of cold weather, providers expect a spike in demand for shelter, food and outreach services.

Marybeth Shinn, a professor at Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University, said while moratoriums imposed during the pandemic work to delay evictions, they do not prevent them.

She noted arrears for rent, utilities and fees continue to accumulate when the moratorium ends, and landlords can continue to charge fees for late payments.

"And utility bills keep ticking, and fees are accumulating for families," Shinn explained. "So there are going to be a lot of families who are at risk of foreclosure."

Shinn added housing affordability is at the heart of the problem.

Across Tennessee, there is a shortage of rental homes that are affordable, especially for households whose incomes are at or below the poverty line.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an estimated 12 million renter and homeowner households now pay more than 50% of their annual incomes for housing. And a family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the U.S.

Shinn contended there are steps the federal government and incoming administration could take, including reinstating increased unemployment benefits to help people stay current on rent.

"The closest thing that we have to a silver bullet to end homelessness would really be an expansion of the housing choice voucher program," Shinn proposed. "It's expanded only from two million to 2.2 million units over the past 20 years. A bipartisan policy commission suggested that the program could expand to the point that everybody who needed it used it."

She said research has shown for around 31 billion dollars annually, the U.S. could end homelessness.

Shin believes that's an amount the nation can afford. She said unfortunately there are few resources for individuals that do need help, but some people may be able to get assistance through local nonprofit organizations.

"To access that in communities is to call 211. That will hook you into the organizations that might have resources there," Shinn concluded.

As of January 2019, more than 7,000 Tennesseans experienced homelessness on any given day, according to federal data. Even more families lack stable housing and are staying in motels or with friends or family.

Public school data showed in 2018, around 17,000 students reported being unsheltered, living in a hotel or motel, or doubled up.


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Connecticut advocates are distressed about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Grants Pass v. Gloria Johnson.

The ruling said public camping bans are not "cruel and unusual punishment" as defined by the Eighth Amendment. It means municipalities can fine homeless people for making encampments in public parks.

Sarah Fox, CEO of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, said criminalizing homelessness never works.

"People who are arrested are then returned to our community without resources," Fox pointed out. "So those that are engaged in the criminal justice system rarely come back to the community with the resources they need to thrive."

She added expenses such as court fees can stall a person's efforts to get housing. States such as California, Texas and Utah have bans similar to Grants Pass. Other states are either considering bans or saw legislation fail when it was introduced. The ruling comes as the last two annual point-in-time snapshots showed homelessness in Connecticut is rising after an 8-year decline.

Nationwide, homelessness has only grown since 2017. A 2022 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development point-in-time snapshot shows more than 582,000 people were homeless on a single 2022 night.

Fox argued a multipronged approach can reduce homelessness and developing affordable housing is a primary concern.

"We need to take a deep look at zoning," Fox contended. "What other models of housing are available in the near term, and how do we actually build deeply affordable units in the long term to meet the need?"

Recent estimates showed Connecticut is short 100,000 affordable housing units and current housing is too expensive even for higher-paying jobs in the state. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition finds Connecticut rental prices far exceed the pay of most if not all jobs the state has to offer.


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A group formed to fight for the rights of Bozeman's lower-income renters is pushing for mandatory legal assistance for people facing eviction. Opponents say it's unfair to landlords.

Bozeman Tenants United calls itself a multiracial, intergovernmental movement to win safe, dignified and affordable housing for working-class renters.

Benjamin Finegan, director of the group, said rising rents and less availability are proving to be "death by a thousand cuts" for renters, who he pointed out are forced to spend as much as half of their income on housing, if they can afford it at all. He called evictions "acts of violence," and claimed they are at the heart of Bozeman's housing crisis.

"Where an eviction, in a lot of ways, is a death sentence," Finegan argued. "It means that you are out on the street with nowhere to go, possibly with kids. It means that you have a red stamp on your rental record, and it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find new housing."

Finegan is working to get financial support from Bozeman to pay for legal representation for low-income households facing eviction. The state landlord's association is among the groups pushing back on the idea, saying rent prices are simply driven by market conditions and supply and demand.

Finegan noted Bozeman would join more than a dozen other towns and cities around the country that have instituted some form of legal assistance for people facing eviction. In Bozeman, Finegan said at least two-thirds of residents are low-income renters and as the number continues to grow, his group will push for the funding to pay for legal help.

"Fighting for approximately $670,000 per year in order to actually fund enough attorneys to give people full legal representation through eviction court filings, as well as illegal, dangerous living conditions," Finegan outlined.

Finegan added mandatory, city-funded legal representation for low-income people has sharply reduced the eviction rate in other places across the country that have adopted it, including a dramatic drop in evictions in Kansas City.


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By Marilyn Odendahl for The Indiana Citizen.
Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Indiana News Service reporting for the Indiana Citizen-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service Collaboration.

A letter signed by nearly 500 Hoosier organizations and individuals was presented to Gov. Eric Holcomb on Monday as part of a continued effort to persuade him to establish a statewide housing commission to tackle Indiana's "extreme housing crisis."

The 485 signees to the letter, which include housing providers, developers, community service organizations, faith-based groups and individual Hoosiers, are asking the governor to issue an executive order creating a Commission on Housing Safety, Stability and Affordability. They see a commission as improving coordination among government agencies and assorted stakeholders to help address the state's housing shortage and a shortfall in enforcing health and safety standards.

"Our state is in the midst of an extreme housing crisis," Amy Nelson, executive director of the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana and a signee to the letter, said in an email. "This is not new to housing consumers, whether renters or wannabe homeowners, who have been struggling to keep roofs over their heads or build generational wealth through homeownership. There is a dire lack of affordable housing options in both our home sales and rental markets. We need a Commission that can thoroughly address these issues impacting so many Hoosiers."

The idea for the commission was born from the failure to pass meaningful housing legislation during the 2024 session of the Indiana General Assembly and in previous legislative sessions. Despite 10 bills related to housing needs being introduced into the legislature in January and the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus focusing its agenda on housing concerns, the issue did not gain any traction.

The signees see a commission as overcoming the frustration in the Statehouse in two ways. First, they explained in the letter, a commission could find avenues through administrative and court rules to expand the housing supply without the need for legislation. Second, a commission could speak in a united voice to Indiana lawmakers and recommend new state statutes.

In the letter, the signees highlight Indiana's ongoing housing problems. The state currently has only 34 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely impoverished Hoosier households, the second-lowest rate in the Midwest, and 76% of those households spend more than half their income on housing expenses, the single-highest rate in the Midwest, according to data cited in the letter.

Moreover, housing instability is threatening many Hoosier families. The signees said more than 72,000 Hoosiers households had an eviction notice filed against them in the past year, and an estimated 86,000 households - which includes 98,000 children - remain at risk for eviction.

In March, Prosperity Indiana and the National Low Income Housing Coalition released their report - "The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes" - which detailed the depth of Indiana's housing problem. The Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition, at that time, encouraged housing advocates to sign the letter asking for the commission.

"Contrary to the common claim that Indiana is an affordable place to live, the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition believes that the findings of this report confirmed what our members have witnessed on the ground throughout the state - that Indiana is failing to supply safe, healthy and affordable places for the most vulnerable Hoosiers to live," Andrew Bradley, policy director for Prosperity Indiana, said at the March news conference.

Those who signed the letter to the governor see a housing commission as functioning like the Indiana Commission on Improving the Status of Children, established in 2013, which has brought numerous stakeholders together to address the problem of abused and neglected youth. Similarly, the signees said, a housing commission could get administrative agencies, courts, local governments, legislators and advocates to work together to find solutions, rather than working in silos.

"Safe and stable housing is fundamental to the physical and mental health of all Hoosiers," the letter states, "to the education and development of children, to the employability of adults, and to a thriving state economy."


Marilyn Odendahl wrote this article for The Indiana Citizen.