Homelessness in the United States has risen due to
the capitalist economic crisis. There was a 20 percent increase in foreclosures
from 2008 to 2009, which prompted the Department of Housing and Urban
Development to use $1.5 billion from the stimulus package to set up a new
program called the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program.
This program helps people stay in their apartment by
subsidizing their rent. The program was developed, according to Sheila Crowley,
president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, to be “an
emergency band-aid for victims of the recession.” It was created when people
believed that the economy could recover quickly.
A quick economic recovery, of course, has not
happened. Experiencing high demand, the program is almost completely out of money.
The NLIHC is recommending that HUD allot $1 billion
per year to the HPRP to try to keep up with demand. Without a militant
fight-back movement, this is unlikely to happen.
