Letter: Cuts to subsidized housing at root of homelessness spike

Cuts to subsidized housing atroot of homelessness spike

Re: “Just say no to Google, Facebook and the rest” (Letter to the Editor, May 22):

A recent letter referring to an article titled “Dramatic spike in homelessness” (Page A1, May 17) blames the big tech companies for much of the problem.

The root of the problem can be more accurately focused on the cuts by the federal government for subsidized housing.

Since the 1970s homelessness has steadily increased. In 1976, the Ford administration budgeted for the construction of 506,000 new subsidized housing units and 400,000 Section 8 certificates. In 1996, HUD funded fewer than 9,000 new affordable housing units.

Funding for affordable housing continued to fall until 2000 and currently stands far below the inflation adjusted level of 1976.

Peter Miron-ConkDirectorSJ Hope VillageSan Jose

 

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