Section 8 Expansion

One of the most important actions needed from the government in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is how to house those who are now homeless because of the storms. The Bush Administration has proposed creating vast trailer park ghettos for the largely poor evacuees. The other suggestion is an “urban homesteading” proposal which would give urban lands to evacuees on the condition that they build a house on it. The problem with this proposal is that most of the evacuees don’t have the means to build houses and do not have the credit for loans to build houses. The trailer park idea is horrid. It would create zones in which there are few jobs and little opportunity to get the means to leave. It would be a modern Hooverville. Instead, there should be an expansion of Section 8 housing vouchers, not just in the affected area, but for the entire country. This would help the poorest with rent and free up resources to pay for child care, work fewer hours in order to just survive and therefore spend more time with their children and families. It would also free up money for investment in transportation and savings for an unpredictable future. This would help ensure that the debacle of having many people not evacuate before the storm because they couldn’t doesn’t happen again. It would also help bring people out of poverty and into brighter economic futures.