Recent Daily Sentinel articles on overcrowding and proposed changes at the community homeless shelter have been informative, but only scratch the surface regarding problems caused by this area’s lack of affordable housing.

Grand Junction’s rental vacancy rate has fallen to less than one percent. That is for all available rental housing, not just affordable housing. The result: more people who never dreamed that they could be homeless are finding that they are in deep trouble and have very limited options.

According to Catholic Outreach staff, many families unable to rent homes are living at North Avenue motels. They may pay from $1300 to $1500 per month for the privilege.

Low-income families who receive housing vouchers from the Grand Junction Housing Authority must seek their own rental housing. Many vouchers have gone unused in recent months because people simply cannot find rentals within the agency’s affordability requirements.

The REACH program of School District 51 has identified more than 350 children who meet the definition of “homeless” within its boundaries.

Veterans make up a significant percentage of the homeless in Grand Junction, as elsewhere in the United States. Our local lack of affordable housing makes it even more difficult for those who have sacrificed so much for their country to find safe, adequate shelter.

Efforts have been made to increase Grand Junction’s stock of affordable housing — in fact, community projects in progress will slightly increase the number of affordable units in coming months — but in light of the magnitude of the problem, it is far too little.

It is time for citizens and community leaders in Grand Junction and Mesa County to face the severity of the housing shortage and the human suffering it brings.

KARALYN DORN
Grand Junction

This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 11:07 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.