Ben Carson is my “landlord.” And as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, he is failing me and millions of his other “tenants.”
I live in federally subsidized senior housing in Chicago. I’ve lived here for 12 years. I love my home and my neighbors. I’m grateful to live in Chicago, the city where I was born.
But on April 25, HUD announced a proposal to triple rents and impose work requirements for people receiving federal assistance for housing. Carson introduced the proposal in the form of legislation to Congress.
To me, this is not a story about budgets and facts and figures. This is a story about real people who would be impacted by HUD’s proposed draconian policy. The proposal would affect more than 4.5 million individuals and families. It’s essentially a tax on the poor; a tax that is especially severe and unjust when we remember the GOP tax bill that gives the 1 percenters and corporations huge breaks.
The new HUD proposal could increase my rent by at least $52 per month, or $624 annually. If you’re on a fixed income like I am, that’s a big deal. That means I will have significantly less money for essentials like food or medicine. I would barely have enough money to stay in the house where I pay the rent. Others would fare even worse.
HUD’s proposal would hurt some of the most vulnerable people in our country. It would especially harm seniors and people with disabilities, making it harder for them to remain in assisted housing.
In 2018 a person working full time at minimum wage could have trouble renting a two-bedroom apartment in any county in the United States. Because of decades of disinvestment from HUD, only 1 in 4 people who qualify for federal assistance can actually access it. The housing crisis has reached a state of emergency.
How is it that, in the world’s richest country, people like me are still making decisions between paying the rent and putting food on the table? That the poor, seniors, and disabled people are treated like second-class citizens? This should not be the case. Housing is a human right.
Armed by my conviction, the same day Carson introduced the proposal, I disrupted his speech at a corporate housing conference in Las Vegas to demand answers.
As Carson droned on about deregulation and made patronizing remarks about poor people, I took a breath. Then I stood up, looked him in the eye and asked: “Ben Carson, if you get your way and increase my rent while slashing the HUD budget, how will someone like me, a retired, low-income senior, survive? Where will I live? Where will I live?”
As I was booted from the conference, I heard Carson tell the crowd: “(This is) a perfect example of what happens when the swamp gets ahold of you.”
That’s my landlord, Ben Carson. Our HUD secretary, charged with overseeing an agency to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. He couldn’t look me in the eye and tell me where I’m supposed to live once he slashes the HUD budget. He had no answers about where I’m supposed to live if my rent is increased. Instead, he disparaged and dismissed me, his tenant, and celebrated a policy proposal that, if it passes, will devastate me and my neighbors. In my mind, he is one of the worst landlords in the country.
Congress must reject HUD’s proposal to increase rents and impose requirements. And our leaders in Congress must radically rethink HUD’s funding and purpose. We need a massive investment in housing for everyone, not a tax on the poor.
Jeliner Jordan is a grassroots leader with Jane Addams Senior Caucus and People’s Action. She lives in federally subsidized senior housing in Chicago.
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