October 2006
For Catholic Diocesan Newspapers

Steve Pehanich
Executive Director
Catholic Charities of California

Let California Be Known as a Place Where All Have a Home

California is famous for incredible extremes—from sun-drenched beaches to sparkling Sierra mornings, from general wackiness to cutting edge technology.

But one topic almost always predominates when the conversation turns to the Golden State—high housing costs. California has 21 of the 25 least affordable metro areas in the nation. The extraordinary cost of housing has become a California cliché, almost a truism.

Housing in California has been an issue since the 1940s, when military personnel passing through en route to the Pacific Theater discovered how wonderful a place this is and returned to raise their families.

If you have a job, car and house in California, many say you just can't find a better place to live.

It's not hard to see, however, that something is askance:

Thousands of families continually juggle rent, food, health care and other basic expenses. Battered women and youths exiting foster care have no place to go. Seniors fight to find decent accommodations.

Working families—many of them teachers, police and fire fighters—cannot afford to live in the communities they serve. And an estimate 360,000 people are homeless in California.

We all probably know somebody who is having housing difficulties, whether it is an adult child moving in with parents to save money, a struggling single mother, or the homeless men and woman we serve through parish ministries.

That is why Proposition 1C—the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2006—on the November 7 ballot is so important.

Proposition 1C authorizes $2.9 billion in long-term bonds to address many housing needs including emergency shelters, down-payment assistance, transitional housing and construction of multi-family units. It also provides assistance to municipalities to install the infrastructure to support the effort.

This measure follows on the highly successful Proposition 46 of 2002 which authorized a similar amount of money ($2.1 billion) and resulted in more than 17,000 apartments being constructed or rehabilitated, and almost 10,000 new shelter spaces. It allowed 18,000 families to become or remain homeowners.

Housing is fundamental to the "common good." In our Catholic social justice tradition, the common good is the set of circumstances that enable people and communities to provide for themselves.

Food, housing, work, and health are some of the most basic elements of this concept. Take one away, and people and communities are out of balance.

Catholic Charities of California endorses Proposition 1C because housing is basic to a dignified, balance life yet proper housing is lacking for too many individuals and communities.

As Christians, we are all bound to promote the common good. And as Pope Benedict says in his new encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, doing charitable works is something good and natural to the Church.

Catholic Charities up and down the state have myriad projects to assist people with housing—from emergency shelters to shared housing programs to low-income apartments. All Catholic can take pride in this work.

Religious orders of women and men, dioceses, local parishes—plus thousands of projects from other denominations—support many kinds of housing assistance.

During this election, there are already millions being spent on campaigns for or against the propositions. The mythical and scary "special interests" all come out to play during California elections.

Unfortunately, little is being spent to promote Proposition 1C. No candidate is pushing it strongly. Many people recognize the need, but not many set it as a priority. And no big name movie or music star is inciting the populace or holding concerts to raise the issue.

Not many oppose the measure either. What objections there are usually involve the issuance of bonds—long-term borrowing by the state. In the case of housing—which is used for decades—paying over the life of the asset is a common, accepted approach for individuals and government.

Other critical issues and interesting candidates are on the November ballot. Voters will be making many choices about the long-term future of the state and our common good.

As always, shifting through the morass of claims and counter claims will be difficult. Is the "no" literature really the "yes" campaign trying to confuse the issue? Campaign rhetoric would be amusing if it were not so often aggravating and perplexing.

When it comes to something as basic as housing, however, Proposition 1C is a measure we can all support.

Steve Pehanich is the executive director of Catholic Charities of California. He supports public policy and other initiatives for the twelve Catholic Charities agencies. Contact him at spehanich@cacatholic.org.