The recession is spawning a group of "newly
poor" people within San Bernardino County, said the director of a local
organization that provides referrals to social service providers.
"We have a whole group of people coming now, and I think it
would be fair to call it the newly poor," said Gary Madden, the
director of San Bernardino County 211, which receives most of its
funding from Inland Empire United Way.
People within this group, Madden explained, often say when
they dial 211 that they have never before asked social service
providers for aid.
"We're on track for about 70,000 calls this year for people
needing some kind of assistance," said Madden, adding that 60 to 65
percent of those calls are for people unable to pay for basic needs,
such as utilities, food or rent or mortgage payments.
A new study released by Washington, D.C.-based group that
favors increased government activity to help low-income earners afford
housing concludes that life could get harder for those who already have
trouble paying rent.
"Competition not just for rental housing - but for low-cost
rental housing - could become particularly fierce because an estimated
40 percent of the households displaced by foreclosure are renters," is
one finding of the National Low Income Housing Coalition's new report,
which was released Tuesday.
"Since renters commonly have lower incomes than owners, evicted renters will increase the demand for low-cost units and be more likely to struggle finding affordable housing after an eviction," the report, titled "Out of Reach 2009" continued.
One worry is a rise in homelessness across the United States.
"So
what's going to happen is a lot, unfortunately, will be out on the
streets," said Edward Wolff, an economist at New York University.
Besides the Coalition's assertion that an influx of newly
foreclosed-upon renters will make it hard for many people to find a
place to live, the organization also reports that many people simply do
not earn enough to afford an apartment.
The Coalition reports that the 2009 "fair market rent" for
a two bedroom Inland Empire apartment is $1,125. The U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development defines fair market rent as "the dollar
amount below which 40 percent of the standard-quality rental housing
units are rented."
The figure includes utilities like gas and electrical bills but not telephone, cable television or Internet expenses.
The
Coalition estimates that an Inland Empire resident needs to earn $21.63
per hour to pay fair market rent in a two-bedroom apartment without
spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
However, the estimated mean renter wage in the Inland Empire is only $11.49, according to the Coalition.
The
organization further reports that 60 percent of Inland Empire renters
earning the median regional renter household income of $36,656 cannot
afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment in the Inland Empire unless
household members work 75 hours per week.
Danna Fischer, the Coalition's legislative director and a
former Freddie Mac senior director, maintained that her group's report
illustrates a need for increased government efforts to build housing
and subsidize rents for low income Americans.
Fischer said many low income individuals are seniors,
disable or single mothers who cannot return to school in hopes of
landing more lucrative jobs. She also said Uncle Sam is currently
willing to aid well-off Americans.
"The federal government chooses to support wealthy people's
housing needs in terms of the mortgage interest deduction and nobody
asks why they need this kind of support," Fischer said.
Locally, San Bernardino County Community Action Partnership
official Renee Wilson said her social service organization is can
sometimes provide rental assistance to people facing eviction or
needing first month's rent.
Generally, such aid does not exceed $600, she said.
The
Westside Community Service Center in San Bernardino, which is
affiliated with New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, had provided rental
assistance in the past but has been unable to do so after losing city
funding.
"We've had to definitely scale back our programs," said
center director Jonathan Buffong, explaining that the center still
provides donated food and clothing to the needy.
Madden said that although federal stimulus legislation
provides for increased aid to the poor, such as nearly $20 billion to
help people obtain food, he doesn't think those hurt by the recession
will be able to rely solely upon government aid.
"I think we're in a situation where neighbors have to help neighbors, too," he said.
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