Kudos to reporter JoAnna Daemmrich for showing that homelessness is more about structural deficits and market forces than about personal failings ("As the suburbs expand, homelessness is moving in," Jan. 18).
As her article illustrates, soaring housing costs and diminishing supplies of subsidized resources act as twin engines that propel a steady increase in the number of Marylanders experiencing home-lessness.
According to an interim report of the Governor's Commission on Housing Policy, Maryland already has a deficit of 125,000 units of affordable housing and will require 157,000 affordable units within the next 10 years.
Locally, Baltimore would do well to reverse an ill-advised decision to reduce its supply of public housing from 14,300 to 11,500 units. On the federal level, Congress must act soon to staunch the flow of dollars being drained from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Only by ensuring an ample supply of affordable housing for low-wage workers and people with disabilities can we make homelessness a rare and brief experience.
Kevin Lindamood
Baltimore
Originally published January 25, 2005
The soaring cost of housing adds to homelessness
Letters to the Editor
The writer is vice president for external affairs of Health Care for the Homeless Inc.
