All it takes is one click!
Have you heard? DC finance officials have identified an estimated $140 million surplus, and this surplus may increase to $250 million by the time the books are fully closed on FY2012 in February!
Meanwhile, lack of funding for critical safety net programs and services has led to a crisis in the District. The Mayor and DC Council have already prioritized these programs as needing additional funding – funding which if not restored, will have real and potentially life threatening consequences for DC residents:
- Half of all shelter beds in the District may close this spring, forcing nearly 1,200 homeless men and women to sleep on the street.
- DC families struggling to get back to work will not receive assistance to get employment and other essential services and their already meager cash benefits will be further cut, making it impossible for them to meet their families’ most basic daily needs.
- The production of affordable housing – the only real solution to homelessness – will never keep up with the alarming number of affordable housing units DC continues to lose each year.
It’s time to take action! Email the Mayor and DC Council now, and call the Mayor today at 202-727-6263. Tell them to use some of this surplus to keep folks off the streets, get parents back to work, and build much needed affordable housing!
We need to worry about the fudging — even more perhaps than overly-ambitious housing plans in the past — because DHS could well face a large funding shortfall for its homeless services program.