Without Housing: Decades of Federal Housing Cutbacks, Massive Homelessness and Policy Failures, released in November 2006, documented the direct correlation between the advent of contemporary homelessness in 1982 and the draconian cuts to HUD and USDA affordable housing programs that began in 1979.
Our report has been downloaded over 30,000 times from the WRAP website. Advocates, community organizers, service providers and educators from across the country use it to reframe the affordable housing debate and to organize for smarter public policy that reflects the realities of homeless people’s experiences. Homeless Coalitions across the country have copied and distributed the report to their memberships and also to state and federal legislators and local city officials.
The data in Without Housing is now four years old and needs to be updated to remain relevant. An anonymous major donor has covered a large part of the reprinting costs, but we still need funding to update the data, rework content to reflect new developments in DC, add new artwork, carry out a distribution and media plan, and, very importantly, to translate it for a Spanish language version.
We are inviting you to support the re-issue of this report that has become such a unifying document both at the national level and in local communities. As the consequences of the economic crisis become more visible by the day, now is the time to refocus attention and energy toward the only lasting solution to mass homelessness: affordable housing.
We need your contribution to keep this report alive.
PRAISE FOR WITHOUT HOUSING
The Without Housing report issued by the Western Regional Advocacy Project
has been a valuable tool for education and policy advocacy. As our organization works to help policy makers understand the deadly serious connections between housing and health, it is crucial that we be able to provide solid information about the policy decisions that result in death on the streets. Without Housing provides that information in vivid, unforgettable terms.
We welcome the prospect of an updated edition and will be pleased to help however we can, if only by putting it to very good use!
—John Lozier, National Health Care for the Homeless Council
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“This report was written in a language that all of us could grasp and comprehend, and in a way that clearly illustrated the devastating effect of federal housing policy.”
—Matt Leber, Nashville Homeless Power Project
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“This is simply the best report on homelessness I have seen during my 25 years working with homeless adults in Portland, Oregon.”
—Bobby Weinstock, Northwest Pilot Project
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“Without Housing has been a critical document that we have used to educate our constituencies and the community at large on these root causes. We are looking forward to a Spanish translation of Without Housing since over 50% of our population and many collaborators in our district are primarily Spanish speaking.”
—Laura Guzman, Mission Neighborhood Resource Center
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We use Without Housing as a powerful tool that makes it clear that federal disinvestment in affordable housing has led to the dramatic increase in homelessness in America. It helps us lift our attention out of the limited focus of local fixes and provides powerful information in our campaigns.”
—Michael Buonocore, Sisters Of The Road
USES OF THE REPORT
As the recession and housing bubble exposed millions of Americans to foreclosure and homelessness, WRAP was highlighted in Associated Press and Reuters articles. We used this press coverage to forward the analysis and solutions found in Without Housing. We were consulted by Good Morning America, 60 Minutes, NBC News, CNN, Christian Broadcast Network, Newsweek, The Nation, and Oprah Winfrey on programs they ran on tent cities and family homelessness. This made a national impact on the public debate.
