Sequestering the American Dream, House after House

Nearly all housing assistance and community development programs will see cuts this year. The federal government has deemed it reasonable to lower our deficit by sequestering approximately $54.7 billion in government non-defense spending. Bringing it down to our home state, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will lose $67.3 billion in funding. 

To give you an image of what this would look like, imagine a struggling family losing this rent assistance, causing them to be unable to pay their rent, and eventually driving them to homelessness... Now multiply that times 5,470, the amount of families that would be affected by cuts to Section 8 in our state¹. Now consider that Homeless Assistance will be cut by $4.6 million.

The amount of stress a family at risk of losing housing experiences, the amount of shame that even the working poor are subjected to, and the myriad of other problems that accompany these shortcoming, including lack of access to proper nutrition, are all deeply affecting forces making the American Dream impossible for the nearly 50 million people living in poverty in United States.

Please call your Representatives and ask them to reverse the sequestration cuts to vital services such as those provided by the HUD and call your Senators and let them know you oppose the additional 10% cuts to homeless program funding that passed the U.S. House yesterday!  These additional cuts would devastate existing programs. 

You can reach your Senators at:

Senator Bill Nelson – Washington, D.C.  202-224-5274 or www.billnelson.senate.gov

Senator Marco Rubio – Washington, D.C.  202-224-3041 or http://rubio.senate.gov

1. Numbers received from the Miami Coalition for the Homeless