As we documented in Without Housing, homelessness reemerged as a massive social phenomenon as a direct result of the federal government’s divestment in affordable housing programs in the early 1980s. Not since the Great Depression had so many people lived in shelters and on the streets.

WRAP’s federal legislation advocacy begins at the local community level. We take the issues and priorities developed by our members through street outreach, community forums, and research to the appropriate legislative bodies to push for change. This method of grassroots advocacy continues to amplify the voices and concerns of people who are rarely consulted in matters that affect their lives and who tend to be disenfranchised from the nation's political process.

We have successfully demonstrated this process of collecting local input to shape public policy with our work on McKinney-Vento Reauthorization Legislation.