The pandemic has clearly demonstrated that housing is health care: Far too many Americans have faced dire risks to their health and safety due to homelessness or housing insecurity. Nearly 50,000 people sleep in NYC shelters each night, with thousands more staying on the streets. The Federal government must renew the leadership role it once held and actualize housing as a human right. Write to your representative urging them to support The Ending Homelessness Act of 2021 (H.R. 4496) to phase in universal rental assistance for all eligible households by 2030.

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program is proven to reduce homelessness and housing insecurity, but only one out of every four eligible households receives this critical assistance. The New York Housing Conference estimates that establishing Section 8 as an entitlement could benefit 1.3 million New York households, 60 percent of which are Black or Latinx. More than 2 million New Yorkers, including 347,000 people with disabilities, live in low-income households that pay over half of their income toward rent.

The Ending Homelessness Act would: Expand and transform the Housing Choice Voucher Program into a Federal entitlement by 2030; prohibit discrimination based on source of income or veteran status; appropriate billions for affordable housing and other services; help align health care and housing strategies; and permanently authorize the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

This vital legislation would place the nation on the path to ending homelessness and housing insecurity once and for all. Please take action to support the Ending Homelessness Act of 2021!