Idaho’s housing nonprofits need your help!
Over the last two years, Idaho saw one of the biggest rent increases in the United States: over 40%. As a result, half of Idaho renters are now paying much of their income towards rent and living paycheck to paycheck.
What would you do if you had to choose between getting needed healthcare for your child and paying your rent? These are the kinds of choices Idaho’s renting families are having to make every day.
Even with unprecedented federal funding and community support, evictions in Idaho have increased this year. Our communities have also seen an increase in the number of people entering our shelters, living in their cars, hotels, RVs, or couch-surfing. I am proud to lead my team at Jesse Tree as we have to make hard decisions every day about who we can - and cannot - serve, and support people through incredibly difficult situations.
Soon, federal funds are expiring. The federal government has indicated that they will not step up with additional support, and many of us are anxious to see what the need looks like when that safety net is gone. As pandemic funds have been depleted in other cities, evictions are already soaring.
Idaho could soon be in a similar situation, and it now falls to the private sector and local governments to keep homelessness from worsening in Idaho. Although housing nonprofits have been working hard to replace government funds, the scale of the housing crisis is huge. It will take all of us to replace those resources and sustain the programming that nonprofits have built.
Until there is enough affordable housing in our community and half of our community’s renters are not living on the line, we must all step up to aid renters in crisis. Nonprofits will be depending on the private sector and local governments to step up to help. I hope to be a part of the solution at the state level, and if you’re a community member, now is a great time to give during Idaho’s housing nonprofits’ state-wide annual giving campaign through December 31st at www.avenuesforhope.org.
