Advocates for homeless seek creative solutions as cities crack down on car-camping

Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Homelessness has been a compounding issue for more than 40 years in the United States and advocates are seeking creative ways to address the root of the problem and protect the rights of the unhoused.

The root cause is a Reagan-era change in U.S. policy that shortchanged funding for affordable housing, and the broad deregulation of the housing market. State and local governments have been unable to fill the gap, while corporations, do-it-yourselfers and wealthy investors have turned the real estate market into a cash mine, experts told UPI.

"What we're seeing today is Great Depression levels of homelessness, even without the stock market crash, because the economic inequality has grown so deep," Eric Tars, senior policy director for the National Homelessness Law Center, said in a recent interview. "And we've lost the social safety nets we built after the Great Depression to prevent this from happening again."

The United States does not have a housing shortage, Tars said. Rather, it has an unwillingness to house those in need. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people without homes across the country.

The exact number is difficult to measure, as people couch surf and local ordinances push the unhoused out of public view, in some cases criminalizing homelessness.

Punishing the unhoused

Tars' organization uses litigation to advocate for the rights of unhoused people. This includes combating laws and ordinances that target them.

Cities across the country have adopted ordinances that advocates say criminalize homelessness, such as restrictions on camping, sitting or lying in certain public places.

These ordinances lead to a higher frequency of interactions with law enforcement. More than one-third of all use-of-force incidents in San Francisco in September occurred against unhoused people, Tars said.

The enforcement of these ordinances comes at a significant cost to taxpayers. Tars said it costs more to jail the unhoused and hold court hearings for them than it would to house them.

The National Homelessness Law Center's "Housing, Not Handcuffs'' campaign calls for the repeal of laws that prohibit or limit the use of public spaces by the unhoused. It also calls for more investment in affordable housing and policies to protect homeless people from discrimination.

Rising costs of living and a housing market that is difficult to enter for a low-income family have also created an inequitable landscape. While homeowners benefit from state and local tax incentives, renters are at the will of their landlords with no incentives to reap.

"The more homes you mortgage, the more of a subsidy you get," Tars said. "These are for predominantly White, wealthy Americans. You never hear it talked about as a subsidy. You never hear homeowners challenged with drug tests and other measures. Everybody who asks for a tax credit can get it.

"Then on the affordable housing side, three out of four people who need a housing voucher or public housing don't get it," he said.

Tars notes that people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community are disproportionately represented in the unhoused population.

Tax credits for renters, similar to the child tax credit offered during the COVID-19 pandemic, could help keep people in homes and move them further from poverty. NHLC also proposes that protections be enacted so no person pays more than 30% of their income on rent.

Vehicle camping

As people seek new forms of shelter, more ordinances are being enacted. The fastest-growing method of criminalizing homelessness, Tars said, is prohibiting car camping. Between 2006 and 2019, the number of ordinances that banned people from living in their vehicle rose by 213%.

In places where these ordinances do not yet exist, other practices keep people from car camping, like parking regulations that punish violators by towing their vehicles, or the placement of concrete blocks to shrink parking spaces.

"Losing that vehicle is absolutely devastating. We have rights to our private property," Graham Pruss, director and co-founder of the National Vehicle Residency Collective, told UPI. "It's not just a private property. It's a residence. It is an international human right to choose the form of residency we want."

Pruss is an anthropologist who has been studying vehicle residents for more than a decade. A recent study by his organization estimates that more than 25,000 people along the West Coast are living in their vehicles. This includes recreational vehicles and vehicles of all types and sizes.

Vehicle residency is the most prominent on the West Coast, but it is occurring everywhere, Pruss said. There are some who choose to live in their vehicle as a lifestyle choice, opting to travel or live with limited expenses. But many move into vehicles as a last resort to avoid having no shelter at all.

A 2022 study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that about 40% of unhoused people have no access to shelter.

It has become common for cities to allow RVs, converted buses and other large vehicles to only park overnight in industrial districts. These districts are often food and water deserts.

This also separates people from systems of care, such as homeless services and healthcare.

"This person is often employed in the local economy and a taxpayer," Pruss said. "Vehicles as a form of affordable housing are a familiar pool of affordable housing. Many vehicle residents don't see themselves as homeless. Our neighbors who are living in vehicles are just that. They are our neighbors."

Bring Chicago Home

With more than 68,000 people unhoused in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson and a coalition of advocates are pushing for a new tax program that would raise funds for relevant services. Meanwhile, those without shelter are bracing for the cold months ahead.

The proposal, called "Bring Chicago Home," would restructure the Real Estate Transfer Tax to increase the one-time tax on properties sold for more than $1 million. It would also decrease the tax on properties sold for less than $1 million from 0.75% to 0.60%..

The funds raised by this tax would be used to provide new permanent housing and wraparound services for the unhoused.

The increased tax for homes sold for more than $1 million would only apply to the amount over the $1 million threshold. The rate increase would be tiered based on the total amount of the sale, with increases of up to four times the previous tax rate. It would apply to less than 5% of properties sold in Chicago annually and is estimated to generate more than $100 million each year.

According to the Bring Chicago Home campaign, 72% of voters support the plan. The Chicago city council has advanced the plan, as well. On Tuesday, the council's rules committee voted 32-16 in favor of placing the proposal on ballots in March as a referendum.

"Today, we moved one step closer to fighting homelessness for thousands of unhoused Chicagoans," Johnson tweeted Tuesday. Homelessness is up 12% since 2019. Black Chicagoans account for 69% of the unhoused in our city. There are nearly 17,000 unhoused students in [Chicago public schools]. It's time to Bring Chicago Home."