Opinion: Conditional Housing Is Still Discriminatory

I learned the hard way that affordable housing isn t guaranteed it s conditional The moment your income changes or an agency misses a form the system recalculates your worth and can pull the rug out from under you An apartment building in The Bronx Adi Talwar City Limits When I received a housing voucher I was definitively able to move into a rent-stabilized apartment in what plenty of would call a luxury building I was described that if I maintained the apartment for five years my rent would be locked in But when COVID- hit my scenario management through Homebase fell apart and I had to pay the rent from my Social Shield Disability income just to stay housed I learned the hard way that affordable housing isn t guaranteed it s conditional The moment your income changes or an agency misses a form the system recalculates your worth and can pull the rug out from under you The recertification process has become a quiet form of income discrimination punishing stability instead of supporting it These systems are set up for people to stay stuck or fail They claim to promote independence but the fine print ensures dependence function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' Seniors and families with children are the preponderance vulnerable Toby cried when his mother stated him they had to go to a shelter He lost his school his friends and his sense of home Nearly a year later he laughed again when his mom was in the end awarded a housing voucher For the first time he felt safe But in the modern day at Toby is back on unstable ground his family must leave the apartment they fought so hard to keep The fear and displacement he experienced as a child have returned and this time the pain runs deeper Children internalize trauma swiftly and Toby s story is not unique When families are forced to move again and again we are watching the slow unraveling of a generation And then there are our seniors the silent backbone of our communities being narrated to work longer to survive on less and to somehow adjust as costs climb and wellbeing declines Multiple of us have already raised families buried loved ones and outlived friends We are tired yet the system demands endurance instead of compassion Seniors shouldn t have to prove their productivity to deserve peace Stability and dignity in housing should be a right not a reward for those who can still punch a clock If we are serious about ending homelessness we must restructuring the voucher recertification process so that progress isn t penalized and stability isn t temporary Families who rise should not be punished for surviving and elders who have given their best years should not be left to struggle alone City and state agencies must also invest in clear learning for tenants with subsidies plain-language guides real-time alerts and transparent communication about what happens when income or benefits shift Housing should not be a secret exam that no one is taught how to pass With a new mayoral administration on the horizon and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani promising affordable housing and rent freezes it s time to demand accountability for what those words really mean Affordability without safety is a half-truth Until recertification reorganization transparency and tenant guidance are prioritized we are not building affordable housing we are maintaining conditional housing The next mayor has an opportunity and an obligation to change that Rhonda Jackson is co-chair of the NYC Fund to End Youth and Family Homelessness a steering committee member of the NYC Family Homelessness Coalition and a longtime advocate for housing as a human right A survivor of homelessness herself she works to ensure that no child grows up believing instability is normal The Family Homelessness Coalition is among City Limits funders The post Opinion Conditional Housing Is Still Discriminatory appeared first on City Limits