Columbus poor struggle with evictions, high housing costs
If she can find a place, Danielle Bailey said, she’ll probably have to spend more than half her monthly income on rent. That’s a best-case scenario. She and her children have been stuck since March in a worse one.
“Homelessness is not just not having a house,” Bailey said.
The 32-year-old is trying to land a new job, find a house or apartment, get her cellphone fixed, care for four children and keep depression at bay — all while living in an emergency shelter. “I need to get a foot in the door,” Bailey said. “And I need my own door.”
Housing loss has long been considered a condition of poverty in America. Matthew Desmond says it’s time to flip that view and see eviction as a cause.
“If we want more family stability and more community stability, we need fewer evictions,” said Desmond, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who spoke Wednesday during the Community Shelter Board’s annual gathering at the Southern Theatre, Downtown. “Without housing, everything falls apart.”
