LETTER: State needs more focus on affordable housing

For low-income people with disabilities, New Jersey is not a welcoming place to live. Social services organizations are inundated with calls from people desperate for a place to call home.

There are about 120,000 adults with disabilities in N.J. who receive Social Security Supplemental Security Income benefits and live on less than $800 monthly. Approximately 41,000 receive federal and state housing assistance in subsidized units or through rental vouchers. This leaves 80,000 people with the difficult task of finding a place to live in one of the costliest states in the nation.

New Jersey has to start thinking differently about how to house its most vulnerable citizens. With a safe, affordable place to live that is close to family and friends, access to transportation, socialization and jobs, these individuals can contribute to society in positive ways.

Here are several ideas that can make a difference:

• Redirect public monies. Excessive use of high cost centers is a drain on the economy and keeps people in poor physical and mental health. Public leaders should invest in housing and services on the front end by targeting high cost users for eventual control of escalating costs, particularly the Medicaid budget. New York has done it successfully. So should New Jersey;

• Encourage private investment. The state’s depleted special needs housing trust fund could be replenished by the private market, and used to leverage public and other streams of funding for new construction and rehabilitation. Lenders in New Jersey are willing to assist and invest, but need a plan that creatively leverages public with private resources.

• Seek more efficient housing models. Not everyone can afford and flourish in a one-bedroom apartment. The tiny house movement and non-profit providers of small boarding homes or SROs can provide access to those who need a less costly place to call home. Shared housing has become more popular: people pool resources to own or live collaboratively in one house or housing location. HomeSharing Inc. in New Jersey provides professional matchmaking for home providers and seekers. A program like this should exist in every county.

• Work with towns to build affordable housing. Recent court decisions require towns to use the balances of their affordable housing trust funds for development. According to formulas prepared by the Fair Share Housing Center, New Jersey towns and cities should create over 200,000 units of housing in order to comply with the Fair Housing Act and Mt. Laurel Doctrine;

• Refurbish and build with accessibility in mind. The population is aging and will require accessible housing in both urban and suburban communities. The state has been called the “Peter Pan” state due to the number of suburban homes built vertically — as though intended for people who will never grow old.

• Add rental vouchers to the budget. Housing vouchers are in short supply, but can be the key to an individual’s housing independence. The Supportive Housing Association’s campaign “Opening 1,000 Doors” encourages Gov. Christie and lawmakers to add more rental assistance to the 2016 state budget for people with developmental disabilities, serious mental illness and the chronically homeless. Supporters can sign SHA’s petition at http://chn.ge/1aDFxtU;

• Employ people with disabilities. New Jersey is a housing first state and believes in the power of employment. People with disabilities are unemployed at an alarming rate. Employers must continue to hire those living with physical, emotional and developmental challenges. The earned income can make the difference between living on the street or in one’s own apartment;

No one place or state entity provides enough resources to solve the housing crisis. A mix of public and private resources and the natural support system must come together to achieve creative solutions. Everyone in New Jersey deserves a place to call home.

Gail Levinson

Executive Director

Supportive Housing Association of NJ (SHA)