Councilman Clark Gilman asked if housing could be a basic human need, and my response is: have you ever lived on the streets of Olympia with three children for six weeks, and this was in 1992. No restrooms were available, food is scarce especially with no way to prepare it, water unless you buy it, shelter if you can find it is a luxury, and you cannot get housing or a job without an address. If you think housing is not a basic human need or right, take you and your family, and live on the streets for even a week. And that is without using your credit cards or cash to help you get by. Living on the streets in 1992 was extremely scary, but now, I do not know how people do it.
It would be terrifying now, and yet people are doing it, and they are getting ridiculed, ignored, and chastised for it. Granted, some people are just using the system, but that is fairly rare. Others have mental health problems, along with drug and alcohol abuse issues. For the majority of people living on the streets, it is not their fault. Sometimes, just one simple thing can send a person or a family spiraling into homelessness: illness, medical costs, loss of a job, a car that won't work, and unexpected bill(s) to name a few. It does not take much, especially with the cost of housing, food, medical costs, car repair, energy bills to tip a person's ability to pay their bills. Also, challenging is for those people that are senior citizens or disabled, and with limited income to start with.
And yes, Councilman Gilman, housing is a very basic need. Housing is absolutely critical if people are able to be residents in Olympia or anywhere else. I also urge you to actually look at the price of housing and how much it takes to keep that housing. A lot of landlords are now wanting a potential renter to earn three times the amount of rent, plus utilities, plus deposit, plus application fees, and any pet fees if they have pets. It is insane to think that the majority of people will have that kind of money to secure a rental. Something needs to change and it needs to change now!
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