Housing on the Continuum

In the fall of 2021, the ESP Team asked a group of Oxford citizens, including members of Oxford Presbyterian Church, government officials, and social service agency employees and clients, what Oxford would look like if there were no poverty. Many issues were identified, but AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR ALL was the top priority.

Thus, the ESP Team held a community meeting on May 1, 2022, during which information on the topics of homelessness (the unhoused), transitional housing, and affordable housing was presented by speakers directly involved in these issues. What did we learn?

For many of us, it was the juxtaposition of leaving our comfortable suburban or small town homes to be inside a meeting room and discuss the prospect of living in a car or a tent. It was a time to consider how a country of relative wealth could justify a homeless encampment next to an elementary school (in our community) and how do we explain this to our children and grandchildren.

A university intern with the Family Resource Center put together some facts for us to consider that evening on May 1st. They follow:

• According to the US Census Bureau, there are over 37 million people living in poverty in 2020 in the US.
• On any given night, 590,000 people experience homelessness in the US.
• Seventy percent of extremely low income families pay more than half their incomes on rent.
• There is no state state or county where a renter working full-time at a minimum wage job can afford a two-bedroom apartment.
• Around 75% of rental units in Oxford go to Miami students, which means 313 units are left for Oxford’s permanent residents. Of these, only 130 are affordable for very low income households.

What else did we learn about homelessness? See LINK.

First, there is homelessness (or a population of the unhoused) in Oxford, just as there is throughout the US. Because the homeless are often difficult to find, the numbers are difficult to count. And, the numbers fluctuate, since the unhoused may rotate where they live, from a car in a relative’s driveway to a sofa in a friend’s apartment, or a sleeping bag at Hueston Woods State Park.

Two of our speakers, Ann Fuehrer and Karen Frances, from Oxford Citizens for Peace and Justice, provided a plan and information that could help with the issue of homelessness. An important part of this plan is to recognize that shelter is a basic human right. Without it, people cannot live lives that are stable and connected, lives that have dignity. We can begin addressing the issue of homelessness by creating a collaborative community-based response that (1) addresses the urgent needs of unhoused persons by connecting them tp existing resources to meet basic needs; (2) eliminate housing insecurity with a network of agencies to enable long-term affordable housing; (3) employ someone to coordinate these efforts.

What did we learn about transitional housing? Typically, this means a place a person or family could go from a shelter situation before they can afford a more permanent living place. The Oxford Cottage Community, located at 5734 Hester road, is an example of a neighborhood of small houses that could fulfill the role of transitional housing. This is a planned unit development, consisting of 12 cottages of 396 square feet each to accommodate an individual or a small family. The houses meet HUD standards and the rent is at or below fair market rate.

What else did we learn? From the City of Oxford, we learned that in 2020 and 2021 the City donated $177,000 of CARES funds to the FRC to assist with housing needs. The city also purchased the land for the above-mentioned cottage community. In 2021, the city established a Short Term Rental lodging tax and set it up so that the taxes collected will go into a housing trust fund that ultimately will be used for housing assistance. The city has also adopted Housing for All as a top priority.

The ESP Team invites all citizens to keep up with the activities of our local government to be informed as to what is happening locally in the area of affordable housing.