In cities across the country, the number of people either experiencing homelessness or who are one paycheck away from it is – in my opinion –staggering. What’s more, that number is growing. In 2024, the National Alliance to End Homelessness documented an 18 percent increase in homelessness over 2023, rising from 653,104 people to 771,480. Where I live in Oakland, California, the marks of a community in need of stable housing are evident. On several street corners, I see worn down RVs and tents pitched under overpasses or in abandoned parking lots. For a multitude of reasons, people end up living on the street and many are unable to escape homelessness’ grip.
As a former eviction defense attorney, my experience tells me the current administration isn’t helping. In Washington D.C, federal agents have been tasked with “cleaning up the streets.” This entails using federal troops to physically remove people living in tents or on sidewalks, displacing them by forcing them into rehab centers or sometimes jail. Much of these actions are legally questionable. The administration claims it is doing this as a way to “help” those experiencing homelessness, but the solutions to the housing crisis in America go beyond displacing them. As I see it, such an act is an ill-informed effort to fix a problem that has thick roots that need very careful and well-planned measures to fix.
Different philosophies
While there are many root causes for this crisis, I believe high rents and stagnant pay as well as high student debt are starting points for this causation. Studies show the spiral into homelessness can begin with someone getting sick, losing their job, or suffering from undiagnosed mental illness. Instability in work, family, and mental health can be the reason someone can’t afford rent and is subsequently forced into living out of their car or on the streets. Working with clients, I witnessed firsthand how one unexpected expense or emergency situation – a new car, an emergency room visit, or unemployment – can land a family in a hole of unpaid utility bills or rent. The dollar amounts can add up until people are way over their heads and are being served eviction papers. To make matters worse, an eviction can stay on a person’s record and make it very difficult for them to secure future housing opportunities.
What about federal funds?
Historically, the federal government, via the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has provided housing assistance. However, voucher-based programs like Section 8 are underfunded and have not always had a positive impact due to the discriminatory practices of some landlords. Similarly, in urban cities where affordable units are sometimes built within market-rate buildings, the application and/or waiting times for those units are long and not always easy to qualify for.
During periods when federal funds are being slashed, which is happening now, federal housing programs are often greatly decreased. In these economically challenging times, it is even difficult for nonprofits aiming to provide rental assistance or to secure funds to help families that need just a little support with their rent.
Amongst housing policy providers and analysts, there are disagreements about how to fix this program. On the one hand, homeless shelters are asking for more money to add more beds and provide short-term assistance. On the other, there are affordable housing developers (sometimes referred to as YIMBYs – Yes In My Backyard) who are pro-building and reason that if we just put more money into building more housing, people will be housed. Unfortunately, neither of those options help folks who can’t afford daily necessities to get on their feet and off the streets. The shelter providers fail to realize they are often only temporarily fixes for people without giving them stable income to permanently afford housing. What’s more, the YIMBY developers are not only involved in building housing for low-income folks (affordable housing units) but also for those who can afford market-rate housing. As a result, this sometimes means the buildings going up are luxury apartments with only a small number of units carved out for low-income residents which are not always permanently affordable.
Forward thinking: Social housing
In my view, there is a way forward, but we need to change our thinking. There is a housing model called “social housing,” defined as “a public option for housing. It is permanently and deeply affordable, under community control, and, most importantly, exists outside of the speculative real estate market.” This model embodies the philosophy that housing should be created and maintained with the community in mind. It removes the pressures that come from a capitalist mindset and it emphasizes permanent affordability and stability. It allows for other types of financial models to be used to build housing, thereby removing the pressure for developers to focus on luxury units only top earners can afford. Social housing facilitates a vision of communities where people live in complexes with more communal facilities like childcare centers or spaces for community cooking and local businesses. It may be prudent to think about alternative housing models such as social housing if we determine our current system isn’t working.
Why should you care?
In Islam, the principle of the ummah is central. We are taught to think beyond ourselves and consider how to support our family, friends, neighbors and institutions. Within our community, Muslims have stepped up to create shelters for women like Islamic Circle of North America’s Relief’s Transitional Housing for Women and NISA, the North American Islamic Shelter for the Abused. These shelters help Muslim women who are escaping abusive relationships and need help to figure out their next steps in life.
And what about the community beyond the Muslims? I think lessons from the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) show us we can and should extend our kindness to everyone, regardless of their faith. There are hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) was kind to his non-Muslim neighbors and community members. Even when they treated him with disrespect and outright cruelty, he always went out of his way to extend kindness.
With this in mind, we must do our best to support charities focused on ending homelessness, vote for policies that would help us prevent people from ending up on the streets, and continue to support the existing organizations that are housing the most vulnerable. We must do more because our faith compels us to do all we can.
