1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Today I take pen in hand to write and urge you to protect HUD funding for permanent supportive housing programs that have proven effective in addressing homelessness. The current administration's proposed funding shifts would disregard evidence-based solutions and destabilize programs that vulnerable populations depend on for stability and survival. At a time when Trump and his enablers war on the poor is clear to be seen in SNAP support blaming the poor and immigrants for crimes, housing instability is their latest excuse for blaming poverty on those who are poor. Long gone is any sense of decency and care for families, veterans and other unhoused persons. Instead I support programs of Permanent supportive housing. They’ve been proven effective: It combines affordable housing with wraparound services like mental health care, substance abuse treatment, and job training. This model has consistently demonstrated success in moving people out of homelessness and keeping them housed. When we abandon proven approaches in favor of untested alternatives, we gamble with the futures of our most vulnerable neighbors, including veterans, families with children, people with disabilities, and those experiencing chronic homelessness. To get to this point, especially in our cities, has taken a lot of hard work and cooperation with housing advocacy agencies. The proposed changes would disrupt existing programs that communities have built over years of careful implementation. Housing providers, social service agencies, and local governments have coordinated their efforts around current HUD funding structures. Sudden shifts create chaos in service delivery, leaving people who have finally achieved housing stability at risk of returning to the streets. The human cost of this instability extends beyond individual suffering to increased emergency room visits, law enforcement interactions, and other expensive crisis interventions that burden local budgets. I urge you to advocate for maintaining robust HUD funding for permanent supportive housing programs and to oppose any budget proposals that would undermine these evidence-based solutions. Our communities need consistent, reliable federal support for housing programs that work. The people served by these programs deserve better than to have their futures treated as expendable in policy experiments. Press the HUD Secretary hard in hearings and demand explanations for this shift. I’m guessing there’s no reason except keeping people poor, which works to their narrative. Stand with constituents experiencing homelessness and the organizations working to serve them by protecting HUD funding for permanent supportive housing. Thank you.