Affordable Housing in O.C. Focus of Rally

For a homeless man sitting at a picnic table in Garden Grove Park on Saturday, the phrase “affordable housing in Orange County” seemed like a contradiction in terms.

“I don’t think I could do it (own a home) in Orange County. The average cost of a house is $275,000,” he said.

Until six months ago, the middle-aged plasterer, who asked not to be named, was renting a house in Huntington Beach. But he said that when his construction job ended and he could not find a new job, his $1,000-a-month rent became unaffordable. He now lives in his car.

On Saturday he was among the homeless enjoying free plates of spaghetti and vegetables provided by Street People In Need, one of several organizations co-sponsoring a Housing NOW! rally held at the park to call attention to the need for affordable housing.

The Orange County Housing NOW! Coalition was one of several groups across the country that held rallies Saturday on the first anniversary of the march in Washington that drew an estimated 250,000 people.

After a decline in federal spending on housing--from $32 billion in 1979 to $7 billion 10 years later--housing advocates are pushing a bill that would restore $125 billion to federal housing programs over the next five years. That bill is still being drafted, officials said.

Coalition members said housing is needed not just for the homeless, but also for the “working poor”--those who have jobs but do not earn enough money to afford a home of their own.

An estimated 10,000 homeless people live in Orange County but there are only 600 shelter beds, according to a report issued by the Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force. The report also states that about 300,000 people in the county earn less than $10,000 each year but spend more than 60% of their income on rent.

Former New Mexico Gov. Toney Anaya urged Orange County residents to use the power of the ballot box to influence their conservative Republican congressmen who, he said, have ignored the housing problem.

Anaya said it was ironic that for years, politicians in Washington said there was no money for housing, but managed to bail out the savings and loan institution.

“If they can find money for the savings and loans, for the criminals that took away the money, then find us a few billion dollars for the housing needs of the children and the homeless of this country,” he said.