Home is everything

As the days grow shorter and colder, I’m reminded more than ever just how blessed I am to have a safe, comfortable house to call home. Unfortunately, many of our neighbors here in Boise aren’t so lucky.

As you’ve probably noticed, the Treasure Valley has continued to experience unprecedented growth, even during the pandemic. Housing affordability has continued to put many of our neighbors in a crunch. Since May, there have been 468 eviction filings in Ada County and 204 in Canyon County. Many others have shown up at our community's shelters for the first time. We know that the majority of families who lose their housing end up in that situation because of an inability to pay rent.

And it’s not hard to see how that could happen. In the Treasure Valley, housing costs continue to increase, along with other basic living costs. Meanwhile, wages aren’t keeping up: 70% of jobs in Idaho pay less than $20 per hour, and two-thirds pay less than $15 per hour. For families living paycheck-to-paycheck, as nearly 30% of our neighbors here in Boise are, a single unanticipated expense or shortfall—a car breakdown, a traffic ticket, or a doctor bill—can easily make it so a family can’t pay their rent. With all of the changes the pandemic has brought to working families this year, more and more of our neighbors are facing down housing instability for the first time.

As we discussed in our September newsletter, there is currently a national eviction moratorium in place for certain qualifying renters, but the moratorium does not exempt renters' liability to pay their rent. Estimates are that millions of renters around the country are behind on their payments by at least $7.2 billion. The expiration of the temporary eviction moratorium in January could lead to mass evictions and housing instability. Mounting rental debt - which is treated like consumer debt in the United States - could also lead to lasting financial consequences for tenants.

Thankfully, we know what works to prevent homelessness: financial assistance and supportive services. When we provide those interventions to families at risk of housing loss, we save money and prevent social cost of eviction and homelessness for our neighbors and community. It still costs us around $1,000 to keep a family at risk of eviction and homelessness in their home, and over 95% of people we serve remain housed three years later.

In a month or two, we'll be hosting an event to discuss this important issue and put our heads together to get ahead of the housing crisis, so stay tuned! Thankfully, we have been able to help a good number of families and have made great strides in building local momentum, partnerships and programs over the last year and we are excited to share that with you as well.

Let's continue keeping the traumatic, life-altering experience of eviction and homelessness from happening to our neighbors, and to our community.