With housing and rental costs rising in the Treasure Valley to an all-time high, we have seen more people moving into homeless shelters.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and their latest numbers from 2020, there were 479,000 Idahoans being paid an hourly wage. Of those, 7,000 or 1.4% of them were paid minimum wage or less.
Idaho’s minimum wage has stayed at $7.25 since 2009. Someone working 40-hours a week at the minimum wage would take home a gross weekly pay of $290 for a total of $1,160 a month and just over $15,000 annually. It’s easy to see how people working to just survive in this economy are having a hard time affording housing in Idaho.
With the unemployment benefits, someone who made $7.25 an hour could collect up to $14.75 an hour, on the low-end of the spectrum. The maximum someone in Idaho can receive in unemployment benefits is $463. To beat that, they would have to make more than $11.57 an hour to bring that much home.
With President Biden's $300 weekly bonus, some may receive a maximum of $763 a week, which is nearly $20 per hour. This won’t last forever though. It has been said by political officials it is to end in December 2021.
According to the office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the poverty guideline for a one-person family/household in 2020 is $12,760. That means someone who makes minimum wage is just barely over the poverty line.
The poverty rate in Idaho is 14.5% according to Welfare Info. One out of every 6.9 residents of Idaho lives in poverty. How many people in Idaho live in poverty? 236,000 of 1,626,557 residents reported income levels below the poverty line in the last year.
The city of Boise lists a one-person household median income to be $52,700 and a two-person median income to be $60,200. With housing and rental prices averaging $1,554 in Boise and the average Boise apartment size is 875 square feet.
Even the current housing market in Boise has astronomically risen.
A majority of national news sources started that, “Boise is now the least affordable housing market in the U.S.”
To determine the affordability of a housing market, the Oxford Economics’ Housing Affordability Indices look at whether a city’s median-income household can afford a median-priced home.
With a Housing Affordability Indices score of 1.61, Boise’s home prices are 72% above what a median-income household can afford.
From the Boise Regional Realtors Association, a recent study found that the city's median home price was almost $535,000 — 10 times higher than the city's median income.
The median listing home price in Boise, ID was $529.9K in November 2021, trending up 20.2% year-over-year. The median listing home price per square foot was $296 sourced from the National Realtor Association. As of November 2021, on average, homes in Boise, Idaho sell after 48 days on the market. With all of the out of people moving into Boise from out of State primarily from California, Washington, and Oregon are paying with all-cash offers and over asking price for an Idaho home. One of the contributing factors to Idaho's housing increase is because of all the out of State residents moving to Idaho, driving up current home prices. This unfortunately has drastically affected our local Idahoans. Even though there has been an increase in job growth because of this big housing boom, income levels still do not support the current economy here in the State of Idaho.
According to an article from the Idaho Department of Labor, the coronavirus pandemic and its effects pushed Idaho’s unemployment rate to an all-time high of 11.6% in April of 2020. Idaho was reported to be the fastest State to add employment opportunities to its residents from 2020 to 2021. Although Idaho has seen a rise in employment opportunities there has still been a large number of labor shortages. Idaho businesses are struggling to stay open because they can’t find enough workers that want to work for minimum wage rates in Idaho which is $7.25 an hour. We have seen Idaho businesses, mainly large food chains and national franchises advertising to pay up to $15 an hour just to keep their doors open. With the income level being below the national average, unemployment pay being higher, and additional stimulus' being paid by the National Government it's no wonder why so many more Idahoans are facing economic hardship.
As we have seen homelessness in the Treasure Valley has become a difficult issue. Over the last three months, the Boise Rescue Mission reported about 630 homeless people living in shelters each night throughout Boise and Nampa. Of those 630 people, 33 percent were women and children. That number also included nearly 40 families staying in transitional housing.
Idaho has been working to address these issues by providing assistance to those in need. Here are some of the local non-profits, organizations, and programs that are helping local Idahoans who have or are currently struggling with homelessness.
Our Path Home
Our Path Home is a partnership of over 30 agencies both public and private working to end homelessness in Ada County. Our Path Home is dedicated to quickly responding to economic hardships that result in homelessness, preventing them where they can. The organization uses a Housing First model to ensure that children and families are placed into safe and stable homes as quickly as possible. A year after receiving housing assistance, 80% of Our Path families remain in stable homes.
Mission: Prevent homelessness where it can be prevented, and quickly respond to the needs of those experiencing a housing crisis.
Structure: Public-private partnerships governed by an Executive Committee.
Services: Prevention, street outreach, emergency shelter, coordinated entry, and supportive housing.
HOW TO HELP: Our Path Home accepts donations of money, items and furniture, and time. Find out how on their CATCH webpage.
The CATCH program serves both Ada and Canyon Counties in Idaho. If you are currently experiencing homelessness, head over to their "Get Help” page to learn more about how to access it.
Stable Housing: Getting families into a home rapidly provides the best chance to build a stable and sustainable life. Working with local property managers and landlords, we will rapidly house families living tonight in an emergency shelter on the streets. There is no such thing as a temporary solution; therefore, the family signs a lease in their name. The house is permanent. It is their home. We sponsor the application fee, security deposit, rent, and utility allowance while we work together. We offer as much rental assistance as is needed to stabilize each family; for some families, that’s two months and for others, it’s six.
Case Management: Each family is paired with a case manager to work toward long-term stability and success. We believe in strengthening families. We co-create a Housing Stability Plan that improves the health, income, wellness, and resilience of the entire household. It’s a sincere opportunity to build a sustainable life. And we commit to walking by each participants’ side.
Financial Independence: Once the key turns into their new home, our case managers get to work. Through intensive financial literacy and the CATCH Match Savings Program, families increase their annual income on average by over $6,000 and their savings by $1,000, making sustainable their new home.
Resilience: We recognize that the family and the children have experienced trauma in their journey, we want to co-create a new story based on the strengths that have served them to this moment. We believe that language matters.
What is Housing First?
There is no health without housing. Every day spent on the streets impacts the physical and mental well-being of children and adults. Housing First is a research-proven solution that houses people experiencing homelessness as quickly as possible. Once the lease is signed and the key is turned, we provide intensive supportive services to maintain family stability and strength.
Once our families have stable homes, our interventions and supports like job placement and counseling become more effective. How do we know? According to a national study, only 16% of people living in shelters are in an independent home one year later.
Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA)
The Idaho Housing and Finance Association offers a wide variety of housing assistance services, including homelessness service programs. Among these are its Continuum of Care and Emergency Solutions operations, with the goal of bettering living situations in the long term. IHFA is a self-sufficient corporation that also operates as an agent of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, distributing grants and federal funding to aid the community.
Mission: Quickly rehouse families affected by homelessness, provide emergency support, and promote self-sufficiency.
Structure: Private organization utilizing public grants and assistance.
Services: Short- and long-term housing solutions, support, street outreach, emergency shelter, rental assistance, and housing relocation.
HOW TO HELP: IHFA works with the Home Partnership Foundation to assist families. They accept donations here.
Boise VA Medical Center
Veterans are at a higher risk of becoming homeless, according to a CDC report, and Boise’s VA Medical Center works to aid at-risk and affected veterans each day. Through specialized programs in conjunction with federal and community organizations, the VA offers services that strive to prevent homelessness.
Mission: Proactively seek out veterans in need of assistance. Connect veterans to housing, health care, and employment, and expand support network through partnerships.
Structure: Government organization.
Services: Supportive housing vouchers, grants and per diem assistance, domiciliary care, and legal assistance.
HOW TO HELP: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs suggests methods of reaching out to homeless veterans to help them find assistance. You can find tools and information on their webpage here.
Additional Resources:
ADA COUNTY Our Path Home Connect 503 S. Americana Blvd. Boise, ID 83702 Monday-Friday COVID hours: M-F 10:00 am-3 pm Phone: 208-495-4240 ourpathhome@catchprogram.org CANYON COUNTY Region III Access Point 1007 S. Elder St. Nampa, ID 83686 Phone: 208-495-5688 accesspoint@catchprogram.org SOURCES:
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