Good essay on draft an to address a problem in your local community

Anyone who rents in my community knows that there is currently a housing problem. Rising rents are due to a lack of supply. While rich and middle class families are still doing fine, and are able to afford adequate housing, it is the poor who suffer most from a lack of the basics needed for survival, such as housing. My community’s own housing problem is related to a larger problem of housing in the country. As this essay develops, the solutions to this problem involve both local solutions and also solutions that must come from a higher level of the federal government.
While at a gas station, I asked a few other patrons if they rented or if they owned. Obviously, this is not a scientific poll, but it does help give a sense of the level of the problem of housing within my community. Those who rented have said that they find rents that are continually increasing and are living in buildings or apartments that do not satisfy their needs for the size of their family.
Maslow, a famous psychology developed a model of self-actualization in which he showed that basic needs much exist in order for a person to find higher meaning. Housing is one of these basic needs, so when this need goes unmet, it has a profoundly negative influence on that person’s life.
It is the poor who suffer a housing problem in this country, since they are the ones, due to their financial situation, that get the last choice of where they will live. (Badger, 1). Because of this situation, many poor people live in living conditions that are not in-line with their living needs. Where there are programs to help the poor find housing, even with this there are many who lack what they would consider basic housing that satisfies their needs.
One reason for the housing shortage is the fact that according to the US census, there are a little over forty million people in the US who rent homes, meaning that a third of people in this country live in houses they do not own, and instead of having their housing money return to them in the form of a mortgage, must use it to satisfy the cost of rent (Badger, 1).
Emile Badger said that in the United States we do “ not have enough available rental housing.” He study of the data led her to predict that the number of Americans needing to rent will only increase. Meaning, the problem as it exists today is poised to get worse.
Related to the problem of housing in the United States, is the problem of there being poor people within the country who are often overlooked by their government. Badger sees the government programs that attempt to help the poor find housing are deficient in their ability to address the needs of those without adequate housing.
Certainly, they do make a difference. In 2011 government programs assisted 2. 3m people from falling down into a povery trap (Luhyby, 2011). While this can be considered an accomplishment, it is not one that deals with the scope and scale of the problem.
Everyone needs a place to live. Sufficient, affordable, and adequate housing are something that everyone, adults and children, need to have as a staging ground from which they can grow and nurture their future dreams. This is why a housing shortage is such a serious issue within my community.

Works Cited

Badger, Emilie The U. S. Simply Doesn’t Have Enough Available Rental Housing, Whether You’re Rich or Poor – The Atlantic Cities. 2013
Luhby, T. Government assistance keeps millions out of poverty – Sep. 13, 2012. CNNMoney – Business, financial and personal finance news.