While recent reports say that more millennials are moving from renting to owning a home, there are still those who are experiencing difficulties in finding a roof over their heads that they can afford. Fortunately for millennials who are in San Francisco, there is nonprofit organization that provides subsidized housing for low-income residents.
According to NPR, Mercy's affordable housing includes 25 apartments reserved for 18- to 24-year-olds. This age bracket compose the fastest-growing homeless populations in the United States, with 1,600 young adults who are homeless in San Francisco.
While Mercy has a limited slots, way below the number of families in need of housing, it is already of big help to some millennials who would otherwise find it hard to get in public housing. In fact, public housing application in San Francisco is currently close because the waiting list is just too long.
Millennials fall on the low-priority spectrum in public housing and it is especially hard for students whose access are limited because of certain housing rules. Mercy is located in Ocean Avenue and across it is the San Francisco City College where residents can take up some classes without worrying that they will be kick out of their homes.
While homelessness in the country has been declining since 2007 the Department of Housing and Urban Development's 2015 homelessness assessment, the west coast is experiencing the opposite. The Guardian reported that 21 percent of the homeless population in the U.S. is from California.
In San Francisco, officials are already considering declaring a state of emergency over the city's homelessness. San Francisco supervisor David Campos has introduced a legislation to declare a "shelter emergency" after 300 homeless people living in tents and makeshift shelters under highway overpass were cleared out. Jane Kim, another San Francisco supervisor, has also urged Governor Jerry Brown to declare a California-wide shelter crisis.