Homelessness is fundamentally a housing problem, so we at HOTEL INC are unsurprised by the current Bowling Green’s Housing Needs Assessment. We see a continual increase of first-time homelessness, particularly seniors and single-parent families with children.

As in a game of musical chairs, people will always be left out in the cold when there are not enough housing units. That’s essentially how homelessness occurs. These bullet points from the assessment show why it is increasingly difficult to find housing at this time and place:

•For 14,500 households in Bowling Green and Warren County, rent exceeds 30% of household income; nearly half of these households spend more than half their income on housing.

•Most occupations in our area do not pay enough to cover a typical rental unit.

•Between 2019 and 2023, rental rates for one- and three-bedroom units increased by 42.9% and 63.8% respectively.

•Waitlists for tax-credit rental and government-subsidized projects are between two and four years.

•Senior independent living units are nearly maxed out (97.2%).

•1,900 existing units in our area are deemed substandard.

•In the next five years, Bowling Green and Warren County will have need of 7,470 rental units to close its housing gap; more than two-thirds of those units need to be priced for low-income households.

The Office of Neighborhood and Community Services has done well to access more Housing Choice and VETT vouchers so that the government can supplement rent payments. Habitat for Humanity added 11 units for low-income homebuyers in 2023 and will add 12 units in 2024. The Housing Authority of Bowling Green received a grant in August to build/renovate six affordable homes for purchase by tornado survivors. HOTEL INC added a third transitional home this year.

Nevertheless, our community desperately needs a massive increase in affordable housing units, which will require creative, proactive and multi-sectoral collaboration as suggested by Patrick Bowen at the Board of Commissioners meeting on Oct. 17.

Our city and county governments know that we have a housing crisis. We at HOTEL INC know that if we don’t act now, the housing crisis will very soon become a homelessness crisis.

— Katy Attanasi Barker is a storyteller at HOTEL INC.