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| Rural house Melissa Johnson via Flickr theatlantic.com |
Much of the conversations centered around affordable housing tends to focus on the question of "how to get lower-income residents in expensive cities-like New York, Los Angeles, or San (and their surrounding areas)-safe, affordable places to live." While this has some logic, after all the are where the jobs and economic vitality, however they are prohibitively expensive for most people, thus creating a housing problem. In a recent article for The Atlantic, titled "Rural America's Silent Housing Crisis," Gillian B. White points out that "...cities aren't the only places that are lacking when it comes to adequate housing at affordable prices. In rural America, it's both prices and the terrible conditions of existing homes that are problematic."
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| Rural rowhouses photography by Matthew_-jargon777 ruralhome.org |
Thus finding affordable housing in rural communities, where housing can be far less expensive than the nearest city, can present difficulties. Yet, despite the lower cost of living, rural incomes are significantly lower due to limited economic opportunities and struggling industries. David Dangler, the director of the Rural Initiative at NeighborWorks America, an advocacy organization for affordable housing say, "When we are looking at areas that most challenged economically we're also finding some of the most challenging housing conditions." Poverty rates in rural communities is higher-"17.2 percent of the rural population living below the poverty line in 2012 versus 14.9 percent overall"-according to HAC 2012 data. Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition adds, "Much of the affordable housing stock in rural housing areas is old and in need of repair. Many of the people who live there don't have the resources that they need in order to keep the houses in good repair."
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| Mississippi County home photograph by Jimmy Smith via Creative Common ruralhome.org |
The winds tore away at the tin roof and some of the windows began to fall away. A friend, who had been helping out with maintenance, killed in a hate crime. Then Ms. Bouknight suffered a stroke. "As the house came apart, my health deteriorated with the house," she said. Exposed to the elements, the damage to the property began to mount. Soon, Ms. Bouknight found herself relegated to a small part of the property, where it was warm and dry.
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| Tin roofed house with trailer economist.com |
Lynne Bouknight tried to get help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the federal agency mainly responsible for administering rural housing aid, but in typical government fashion the USDA said they could not do anything. Fortunately, help can from a woman who worked for HOPE Inc, who agreed to look into her situation and see if they could help her out. Ms. Bouknight said, "One day she came out to the house, I wasn't home. She looked around and I suppose her heart was touched. She couldn't believe someone could live in those conditions."
HOPE Inc. provides housing assistance and support for individuals living in rural communities. HOPE Inc. was able to salvage Ms. Bouknight's home and she received access to many of the basic necessities, such as: running water, we take for granted. Help came just in the nick of time, Ms. Bouknight's health had deteriorated to the point where she could not continue to live in the house in the state it was in without some intervention. While this case may sound extreme, the reality is that dangerous and unhealthy living conditions are not an anomaly in rural communities. "Residents who cannot afford to buy a new home or save their existing homes are forced to double up with family or they wind up homeless," according to Ms. Crowley. She adds, "It's not visible because people aren't on the streets: They're living in cars and they're living in campgrounds." According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, "...there are 14 homeless individuals per every 10,000 in urban areas."
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| Robsart Hospital Robsart, Saskatchewan en.wikipedia.org |
Even finding financial aid for new construction and property rehabilitation is sparse. "There's a handful of programs that serve people in rural communities. They tend to be much smaller in scale in terms of the amount of money than the HUD programs. They also tend be lost in the bureaucracy," says Sheila Crowley. This is acutely problematic because "rural areas have been traditionally more dependent on upon public subsidies and publicly-funded programs than their urban counterparts," adds David Dangler. Further, "There can be a disproportionate pain in rural areas as we attempt to right our financial books by cutting back on federal-housing programs."
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| House in Elk Creek, Virginia advrider.com |
...the problem is more indicative of the lower prioritization of rural issues overall than it is about one administration in particular. In light of all other issues, this is just one that lays further down for almost everybody. And finding funds from other agencies for rural projects can be difficult and highly competitive...leaving rural residents in a tough spot.
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| Farm with windmill ruralhome.org |
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| Mobile homes near Xenia, Ohio photograph by Grace the Paragon of Bubblewick dailyyonder.com |
Despite the good possibilities outlined by Gillian White, making the case for investing in new or rehabilitated rural housing on a large scale can be quite daunting. She writes, "In a way it seems counterintuitive: funneling money into communities where population numbers are stagnant, if not declining, as more young residents head to cities and suburbs in search of jobs." This begs the question "Why others have not left?" The short answer is some residents do not have the means or feel closely connected to their homes and communities. Many are seniors and the part of the rapidly aging rural population. This translates into communities that less likely or able to just leave, therefore, requiring that homes be updated and new infrastructure be put in place to allow safer living conditions and access to services such as medical facilities.
The bottom line is revitalizing rural communities is not a small and simple task. However, according to Jim King, "...that doesn't mean that organizations should shy away, give up, or turn a blind eye...The stakes are very high in rural places if we don't figure some stuff out. People and places shouldn't be disposable."
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