Affordable Housing

I’ve never really had to sleep outside. But I’ve lived places where I know I wasn’t wanted. But what was I supposed to do? I had nowhere else to go. – Topaz M., SOME Client

Client at SOME's Anna Cooper House

The District is in the grips of an affordable housing crisis. An ever-growing number of individuals and families are at risk of homelessness. Many have been driven out of our community because they cannot find an affordable place to live.

• In the past four years, at least 12,000 affordable units have disappeared from the market.
• At least 58,000 households are now on the District's waiting list for public housing assistance—6,000 more than just a year ago.
• More than 18,000 households were homeless at the time they signed up for assistance.

Since 1979, SOME has been purchasing and renovating properties to provide affordable housing to homeless and other very low-income people in the District. We currently provide safe, affordable places to live for approximately 540 men, women and children.  We are developing additional housing, with a goal of housing about 2,700 people by 2014.  

D.C. Government Response

In 2004, the District drafted a strategy for ending homelessness in D.C. by 2014. One of its major goals was to develop 6,000 new units of affordable, supportive housing for homeless people and other very low-income people at risk. Two years later, an expert task force issued a report outlining a comprehensive housing strategy for the District. It recommended, among other things, that the District give priority to preserving at least 30,000 existing affordable housing units and add at least 19,000 units that would be affordable on a long-term basis.

Extremely slow progress has been made toward these goals. Meanwhile, the affordable housing crisis costs the District at least $30 million a year in stop-gap services. While the Fiscal Year 2009 budget will provide some additional funding for affordable housing, it falls far short of what will be needed to achieve the District's 2014 housing goals.

For affordable housing, we will continue to advocate for:

• A substantial increase for the Local Rent Supplement Program. Without a further increase, many new affordable housing projects will remain on the drawing board, and the waiting list for affordable housing will continue to grow.

• Continuation of a higher funding level for the Housing Production Trust Fund. The Housing Production Trust Fund provides a critical source of cost-effective support for the construction of new affordable housing. A higher funding level willhelp jump-start progress toward the District's 2014 housing goals.

Resources

Facts & Figures

• Housing Costs in D.C.

Issue Papers

• Local Rent Supplement Program
• Housing Production Trust Fund

Recent SOME Testimony

• Regarding the FY09 budget of the DC Housing Authority (Rachel Nicholas) (April 23, 2008)
• Regarding the FY09 budget of the DC Housing Authority (Nechama Masliansky) (April 23, 20
• Regarding the Homeowner and Rental Property Tax Credit (April 9, 2008)
• Regarding the Joint Public Oversight Hearing on Affordable Housing (March 10, 2008)

Additional Resources