Welfare Offices’ Errors, Burdens

Re: “Welfare: Crowded Out, They Still Wait”, Part 1, Aug. 14):

It’s devasting to hear that there are over 915,000 people in Los Angeles County on welfare assistance. But with lack of employment at a decent wage and lack of affordable housing for the underpaid, underemployed and jobless, what else would we expect?

Still, it was a shock to me to hear about this latest symptom of an underfunded system bursting at the seams--welfare offices so overcrowded that the fire department is called to clear out the waiting people from the bulging offices. Those who were waiting inside now wait outside, since they have nowhere to go. They sleep in the yards and litter the homes of people near the offices. Whose yards do you think they are going to be hanging around in the year 2000--just 10 years from now--when the estimated number of homeless will hit 19 million nationwide? What will we do to bring some sanity, justice and compassion back into our society?

Somehow we have managed funds to bail out the savings and loans. Yet we have allowed government subsidies for low-cost housing for the poor to be cut from $32 billion in 1980 to $8 billion today. While 200,000 low cost homes were being build in 1980 with that $32-billion subsidy, today only 20,000 units are being built. Restoring those cuts would help toward providing some funding for those people sleeping outside in other people’s yards.

For the cost of each Stealth bomber, 82,000 low-cost homes could be built. Out of each one of our tax dollars, 26 cents goes for military spending, while less than 1 cent goes toward assisting with low-cost housing.

A small but innovative program is getting under way in Congress to help communities work together to provide low cost affordable housing for their people--the Community Housing Partnership Act. It’s only $500 million, but directed by responsible local community groups who know what’s needed and wanted in their own cities. A little prodding to those who represent us just might make the difference.

DORSEY LAWSON

Pasadena