There are a variety of factors including a lifting of the eviction and foreclosure moratorium, inflation, a lack of free market protections for the poor, long-term illness for Covid survivors, the loss of breadwinners in many families, ruined credit, insolvency, loss of employment, massive competition for the available housing, storm damage, climate displacement, and crime that are leading to a massive housing crisis in America. Many people did not have anything before the pandemic except what they needed to just barely survive. There are more people in that situation now than since The Great Depression. Government and private corporate interests concerned with profit do not seem to care that there are people so poor that they cannot afford housing, food, transportation, utilities, healthcare or other essential goods and services. As climate change displaces more people and refugees pour into America in the absence of a better alternative, the housing crisis will become an unprecedented issue. It will become a national emergency. COVID just accelerated a chain of events that was already underway for the housing market. Runaway inflation and greed are driving housing prices up at an obscene rate. The poor cannot compete and much of the housing is being bought up by private corporate investors who seek to profit from the growing housing demand and extremely limited supply of affordable housing. The result is that in cities like San Francisco tents line the streets with the poor and family members of the poor including children living in them. About one in five adults that become homeless turn to drugs just to cope with the emotional and psychological impacts of living such a life. We are looking at a new social, economic, and public health crisis as rampant homelessness will shortly explode across The United States. Congress is not doing nearly enough to address this situation. President Biden is passing executive orders that acknowledge many of these issues, but executive orders only go so far to put solutions in place. Congress needs to immediately make this among their top priorities on a short list. If basic housing is not established and social safety net protections to prevent homelessness are not put in place, the results for many of the poorest 15-20% of the population will be devastating.

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