US COVID Housing the Homeless-USAGM
Metadata
- US COVID Housing the Homeless-USAGM
- January 28, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: US COVID Housing the Homeless TV)) HEADLINE: Homeless See Progress from COVID-19 Policies, But Can it Last? TEASER: A boost in money for hotels and other needs could be a road map for solving modern America’s longest-running social problem. PUBLISHED AT: Friday, 01/28/2022 BYLINE: Veronica Balderas Iglesias CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Washington VIDEOGRAPHER/VIDEO EDITOR: Veronica Balderas Iglesias SCRIPT EDITORS: Tom Detzel, BR VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Agencies (see script) PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __ TRT: 4:24 VID APPROVED BY: BR, TDetzel TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES: Radio Tracks for Reversioning Included )) ((TV INTRO:)) [[Billions of dollars have poured in from federal and local governments to help America’s homeless survive the coronavirus pandemic. And this spending is helping – for now. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias examines whether the strategies spurred by the pandemic could be a long-term solution to this chronic U.S. problem.]] ((WEB LEAD (longer):)) [[Billions of dollars have poured in from federal and local governments to help America’s homeless survive against COVID-19. And this spending is helping – for now. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias examines whether the strategies spurred by the pandemic could be a long-term solution to this chronic U.S. problem.]] ((NAT)) “During all that snow and stuff got on my blanket. But it’s warm inside.” ((NARRATOR)) Daniel Bow is among the more than half a million homeless people in the U.S. A newspaper vendor, Bow spends his nights outside, often in freezing temperatures. ((Daniel Bow/Homeless Newspaper Vendor)) “I wish I could get a house, but it ain’t gonna be no hop, skip and a jump. You’re gonna go through some trials and tribulations or sign some papers or something like that. They ain’t just gonna give it to you.” ((NARRATOR)) But in this COVID-19 pandemic, life has improved for some homeless Americans. ((VIDEO: ARCHIVE Shelters)) Fearing that the virus would spread fast in crowded shelters, local governments and non-profit groups across the country rushed to move the homeless to hotels, where they can isolate and get medical care. Sixty-two-year-old Queenie Featherstone qualified in Washington, D.C., which has the country’s highest homeless rate per capita. ((Queenie Featherstone, On Path out of Homelessness)) “I have health issues and I’m hearing impaired./I feel pretty safe. The shelters that I have stayed and slept in were not good.” ((Mandatory cg: Skype)) [[RADIO INTRO: Washington DC Council Member Brianne Nadeau]] ((Brianne Nadeau/Member of the Council of D.C.)) “Having folks come and stay at the hotel has made it a lot easier to connect them to resources. // We see higher rates of vaccination and better access to permanent housing from people who have been able to come in.” ((NARRATOR)) In D.C., local authorities taxed the wealthy to raise 65 million dollars for permanent housing. And thanks to pandemic aid passed by the U.S. Congress, billions of dollars are flowing to help unhoused Americans nationwide. [[RADIO INTRO: Richard Cho is a Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ]] ((Mandatory cg: Skype)) ((Richard Cho, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development)) “That includes 70,000 emergency housing vouchers that communities can use to find private apartments on the private market. // As well as five billion dollars in grants that help communities to build units of housing.” That’s a lot, but the need is also big. ((GRAPHIC )) Between 2019 and 2020 the number of unsheltered individuals increased by 7% driven by a housing shortage and spiking rents particularly in cities like Los Angeles. [[RADIO INTRO: Says Stephen Eide, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy Research]] ((Mandatory cg: Skype)) ((Stephen Eide, Manhattan Institute for Public Policy Research)) “Housing alone doesn’t seem to restore mental stability or get people off of drugs and alcohol. //When the outcomes seem so modest, that leads to frustration or uncertainty as to whether or not you can just keep increasing funding up and up and up.” ((NARRATOR)) But housing people first is what President Joe Biden’s administration is betting on, That approach has been less costly and more effective, and communities do provide supportive services, says HUD’s Cho. ((Mandatory cg: Skype)) ((Richard Cho, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development)) “We as taxpayers are spending somewhere between 40 to 60 thousand dollars on many people experiencing homeless. And the actual solution, which is to provide housing and services, is often no more expensive than 20 or 25 thousand dollars per person per year and often even much less than that.” ((NARRATOR)) Robert Warren, who heads an advocacy group, has been houseless three times in his life. He says lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic should point to a long-term strategy to fight homelessness. [[RADIO INTRO: Robert Warren, who heads the advocacy group People for Fairness Coalition, has been homeless three times in his life. He says lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic should point to a long-term strategy to fight homelessness. ]] ((Robert Warren, People for Fairness Coalition Director)) “Having to cook, clean, you know what I’m saying, and fend for themselves in some form of fashion, a lot of these folks need to learn that stuff. And the resources to engage them has not been there.” ((NARRATOR)) For Queenie Featherstone, who recovered from COVID-19 in December, just having a stable room is keeping her outlook brighter. ((Queenie Featherstone, On Path out of Homelessness)) “I’m strong enough to work because that’s the right thing to do to keep a roof over your head./I can be a success story! I’m not on drugs, I’m not alcoholic, I’m not severely mental. It’s just I fell on tough times.” ((NARRATOR)) Meantime, Featherstone plans to keep making daily rounds to homeless encampments to support less fortunate Americans however she can. ((Veronica Balderas Iglesias, for VOA News, Washington))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English