The effects of a government shutdown on America’s most vulnerable

Watch the PBS Segment: Apartments sit vacant as shutdown delays move-in for San Francisco's homeless
Watch the PBS Segment: Apartments sit vacant as shutdown delays move-in for San Francisco’s homeless

The government shutdown has dominated the airwaves since work in Washington DC came to a screeching halt 11 days ago.  But what does a “government shutdown” mean for organizations like Mercy Housing and, more frighteningly, for the people we serve each day?

Last night, PBS aired a segment on the news hour that touched on exactly this subject – the real life impacts of the government shutdown.  The segment included a piece related to a woman in San Francisco who is homeless and is unable to move into her supportive, affordable unit at Mercy Housing California’s new Bayview Hills Garden, because HUD no longer has the staff necessary to process her Shelter Plus Care unit.

Though the piece is not specifically about Bayview Hills Garden or Mercy Housing, it highlights a woman who thought she would be joining the Mercy Housing family. She needs a home and thought she had found it. But because the people she was counting on to process her unit have been furloughed, she will continue to wait.

Make no mistake, people we know and work to protect are being affected. And with no end in sight, our efforts to bring people home are more important than ever.  We must educate ourselves on this shutdown, and remain ever-vigilant in our work on behalf of those in our country most in need of our services.

Watch the video here:  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/nation/july-dec13/california_10-09.html