HOMELESS AT FIFTY-FIVE.

Everything fell apart

I never thought it could happen to me," says Jim, a fifty-five-year-old painter by trade, of being homeless. "For sixteen years my wife and I were happily married and we never had problems paying the bills. Then she passed away in 1984 and everything fell apart."

Always neatly dressed, usually in a workman's attire of blue jeans, denim shirt, and work boots, and without any substance-abuse problems or mental illness, Jim contradicts the familiar stereotypes of someone who is homeless. But like many of the homeless, a traumatic experience forced Jim toward the slippery slope of homelessness. Despite a resilient work ethic that keeps him busy working, even if it means taking jobs considered too menial or low-paying for an experienced blue-collar worker, he spends his nights in Boston's homeless shelters. Jim has joined the increasing numbers of workers, and in many instances, their children, who have become members of America's expanding homeless population.

Fortunately, President Bill Clinton and Congress have taken some notice. They added $150 million, a 20 percent increase, to this year's HUD budget to help the homeless, pushing funding for programs related to homeless-assistance to more than $1 billion. This means more money for shelters, drug and alcohol treatment, and mental health and employment counseling. Politicians in Washington also want to close a loophole that will free up 40,000 housing subsidies for low-income households and provide another 50,000 for qualified working welfare recipients. At a time when funding social programs has become politically unpopular, the financial boost has been a welcome surprise. But Jim feels the solution for many like himself lies elsewhere. "Giving more money to these programs may help some of us, but there are many of us who just need a job that can pay for sky-rocketing rents," he observes. Too many of the jobs available today, he says, "pay only the minimum wage or a bit higher, and they cannot cover the rent and other bills."

Though the 1997 minimum-wage increase helped the country's approximately 10 million minimum-wage workers, it was not enough to pay the rent for a typical one-bedroom apartment in a metro area, and it would have to be doubled in most areas to be able to afford a typical two-bedroom unit.

Jim's experience of homelessness mirrors that of many living in today's homeless shelters. In what feels to him like a "countless" number of times over the past fourteen years, Jim would get a job and an apartment. With little money left after paying the rent, he would manage to stay afloat through frugal spending habits and by taking advantage of local soup kitchens and food pantries. But then an unexpected occurrence, such as a job lay-off, a temporary illness, or helping out a sibling in financial need, would invariably force him back onto the streets.

It has not always been so precarious for those in Jim's shoes. In 1970 there was a nationwide surplus of affordable housing. But converging twenty-five-year trends in the labor and housing markets, as well as declining government low-income assistance programs, have combined to erode the supply of affordable housing. On one hand, the loss of manufacturing jobs since 1970, coupled with the rise of lower-paying service jobs, declining union membership, and the diminishing value of the minimum wage, have all increased the number of low-income renters like Jim.

On the other hand, as a result of urban gentrification, condominium conversions, rising operating costs, and the abandonment and demolition of deteriorating units, many big cities have lost more than half of their supply of affordable housing. With affordable housing on the private market shrinking, the federal government added fuel to the fire by cutting back on housing assistance. In 1997, the number of new low-income housing subsidies was only one-seventh the number provided in 1977. With a record-high shortage of more than 4 million units, the proposed 90,000 new HUD housing subsidies will not be enough to compensate for the effects of twenty years of spending cuts.

As big-city mayors complain of overcrowded shelters, added money for shelters will keep some of the homeless off the streets. But with nearly 30 percent of the workforce now earning poverty-level wages, Washington and state governments need to step up efforts to insure that the rewards of a growing economy are more equitably distributed. To help those like Jim, government needs to increase low-income housing assistance, further boost the minimum wage, and strengthen the Earned Income Tax Credit. "More shelters are not a happy solution to homelessness," says Jim. "I would much rather get a steady job, find an apartment, and settle down."

Skip Barry works at the Bristol Lodge Homeless Shelter in Waltham, Massachusetts.