Pumping Cash in to Housing for Low Income Households

What kind of an impact will the actions of the City of Hamilton have on the housing needs of its citizens? As reported by the Hamilton Spectator, the city is injecting 6.5 Million dollars in order to address affordable housing. The funds are to be spent on rent subsidies, repairs to affordable housing & programs for the homeless.

Low income households are constantly challenged with the task stretching each dollar as far as it will go to cover rent, food, transportation etc. New funds to help subsidize some of their housing costs are welcome news to this group. The question remains, is this enough? Will this action make it possible for those low income households to become more self-sufficient?

 

The idea of paying the bills of someone else while they learn new skills or perhaps overcome physical, emotional or mental illness is very respectable. We all know that one day, we may be the one in need and would be grateful to our community for their support during difficult times.

 

Are those occupying subsidized housing working towards becoming financially independent? Some would argue that programs fall short of helping low income earners improve their situations. With the cost of food & transportation on the rise, the dollars saved on housing will quickly be absorbed by another sector.

 

Training for higher paying jobs would certainly help individuals earn more. This opens a whole new discussion. Who will pay for the training? What will people be trained to do? How will the training be delivered? In addition to job training, perhaps those receiving subsidies would benefit from financial coaching so that they learn to manage the dollars that they have more effectively.

 

The City of Hamilton has brought attention and support to an important issue. Let’s hope that the 6.5 million goes along way to helping low income families overcome housing costs.