Poverty -- Housing

The demand for housing assistance is increasing as costs soar out of reach for low-income workers. For instance, more employed men are resorting to emergency shelters because their wages don’t cover rent. And the wait for housing through Catholic Charities Housing Office has grown from less than 30 days in 2005 to at least four months in 2007, a four-fold increase. Catholic Charities is pleased that the 2008-09 state budget allocates funds to develop more affordable housing and calls on federal legislators to create a National Housing Trust Fund as a dedicated fund for affordable housing projects.

This blog is participating in Blog Action Day, an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. The aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion: this year the issue is poverty. Between now and October 15, we will be posting about poverty in our diocese, with material provided by Catholic Charities in its report Poverty in the Diocese of Albany: A Threat to the Common Good. The report, and additional information, is available here.