Across the state, some 19 percent of residents report being housing insecure according to US Census data - meaning they either did not pay last month’s rent or mortgage and are unsure they can pay next month’s.
Jim Schaafsma is an Attorney with the Michigan Poverty Law Program. He says based on Fair Market Rent amounts in the state if just 63-thousand of the state’s lowest-income renters get assistance for one month it would cost 56-million.
“I think that illustrates how quickly that money will go and how short it is. I don’t mean to diminish 50-million dollars but I think that illustration of mine shows how enormous that need will be.”
Schaafsma says addressing the state’s looming eviction crisis could cost closer to 500 or even one billion dollars.
He says Illinois and Pennsylvania have appropriated 396 and 175 million respectively towards housing assistance.