By Sam Ozer-Staton

In March, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its annual count of individuals experiencing homelessness. The results, according to Secretary Marcia Fudge, were “devastating.” Homelessness had increased for the fourth straight year. On a single night in 2020, more than 580,000 individuals were homeless in the United States, including 106,000 children. Even more devastating? The “point-in-time” count was conducted on an evening in January, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the country begins to climb out of the pandemic, it grapples with a long-standing problem that has become an acute crisis: How do we make sure that the most vulnerable among us have a place to sleep at night?

President Biden has made housing a priority in both his $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus bill and his sprawling infrastructure proposal. The March relief bill included $50 billion in housing assistance, specifically allocating $5 billion toward reducing homelessness. Biden’s initial infrastructure plan earmarked $213 billion for affordable housing, a massive number that is expected to be trimmed significantly before the final version of the bill is introduced in Congress.