The Rent is Too High

I just found one news article that I thought that I'd share with you:
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/12/09/Harvard-Confirms-It-Rent-Too-Damn-High

This references a report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University called America's Rental Housing.  It's a fantastic report written by people with a much more eloquent grasp of the English language than I, so please go ahead and check it out!

Synopsis:
"Rental housing has always provided a broad choice of homes for people at all phases of life. The recent economic turmoil underscored the many advantages of renting and raised the barriers to homeownership, sparking a surge in demand that has buoyed rental markets across the country. But significant erosion in renter incomes over the past decade has pushed the number of households paying excessive shares of income for housing to record levels. Assistance efforts have failed to keep pace with this escalating need, undermining the nation’s longstanding goal of ensuring decent and affordable housing for all."



In other news, thank you letters are well on their way to every donor who has given so far!  If you have donated and haven't received one in the mail this week, please let me know as soon as possible and I will contact you to verify your mailing address and will send another. Thank you again to every donor, past and future!

 

Giving 110%

How much do you have to give?

We learned back in grade school that the most that you can have of anything is 100%.  If I had 10 marbles and you gave me 5, I now have 150% of what I had, but I would still only have 100%.  As a result of this continued logic, the term "giving 110%" (in sports, work, etc.) seems to have fallen out of favor in recent years, but I believe that there might still be a place for it.

I believe that giving 110% is how we grow as humans.  If we always did what we felt comfortable with (our 100%), then how would we stress our bodies to become smarter, stronger, more capable people?  This summer, I'm going to be giving 110% to affordable housing through my trip with Bike & Build.  That means that every day, I'm going to try to give at least 10% more than I thought that I could the previous day.  I'm going to work harder, build better, bike faster, and do my best to make more of a difference than I ever considered that I could or would.

Finally, I wanted to share with you that beyond the abstract idea of 110%, I'm also literally giving 110% towards my trip with Bike & Build.  In addition to the 100% of my time on the road and the potential income that I am giving up to go on this trip, I am also matching 10% of every donation given by my generous donors to this trip.  I believe in the cause and only feel right that I give equally as well too, so I have already made my starting $450 donation to the cause, trusting and knowing that we can reach a minimum of $4500 together.

PS - For a hockey player's take on "110%", take a look at http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/2012/05/30/110/.

Words From A Past Rider

"Bike & Build reminds me of the importance of being human – the importance of living, feeling and embracing the human condition while pushing the context and the boundaries of how we see and perceive ourselves and our fellow man. It not only reminds us to keep our feet (or wheels) planted firmly on the ground, but also encourages us to reach skyward with our hearts and our heads, spurring personal growth and redefinition so that we may help others. Leading our lives with honesty and truth and being conscientious of those in need contributes to the energy that betters our world.

~ Derrick Thiel, Bike & Build CUS 2010

On Minimum Wage

I was checking emails and browsing the internet yesterday when an article from CNN caught my eye: Minimum wage to rise in 13 states on Jan. 1.  This reminded me of the reason why I have this blog, which is to promote my Bike & Build trip and spread knowledge about the affordable housing crisis in America.

While the minimum wage is working it's way back up in value, it still does not have the same buying power that it did 40 years ago (as seen below), which challenges the "American Dream" of home ownership.  It's amazing to find out that no one person can afford to have a single-bedroom apartment in this country at the federal minimum wage*.  Additionally in 2011, it was found that 20 million American renters and nearly 22 million homeowners paid more than 30% of total income on housing, while approximately 12 million low to moderate-income households spent over 50% on housing (http://nlihc.org/).

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/

Former Pres. Jimmy Carter has reportedly said that raising the minimum wage was one of his biggest regrets of his administration for the inflation it caused.  I'm not an economist and I'm not sure about the full effects of raising the minimum wage, but we do know that the cost of housing has outstripped the minimum wage and that there is an enormous lack of affordable housing in the US.  So much, in fact, that for every 10 of the poorest households in the US, there are only 3 homes available for rent at an affordable rate.  As it stands, 7.1 million low-income American households cannot find an affordable home to rent and that number is expected to grow every year.

* Based on the localized fair market rent (FMR) and the US definition of "affordable" housing at 30% expenditure of pre-tax income.

Happy New Year!!!

Source: http://newtownbike.com/

Welcome to 2014!!!  I hope that everyone had a fun and wonderful holiday season!  I wish you and yours a safe, successful, and most wonderful 2014!

When I started this blog, I had said that I would probably have some trouble keeping up with making posts, which is apparently the case! So, in the interest of keeping up a blog, I have updated my resolutions list:

New Years Resolutions:

1 - Transition from writing 2013 (accidentally) to 2014 in 20 days or less.

2 - Read at least 12 books this year.

(Edit) 3 -  Update this blog at least bi-weekly pre-trip.

...Hopefully these resolutions will last longer than most peoples' "exercise more" resolutions!

As you know, this summer I will be bicycling across the country and will be stopping along the way to help build houses with affordable housing organizations. While the time spent building houses is significant, that's not all that the trip is about.  Here's an excerpt from the Bike & Build website:

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Creating a Connection
From the moment that you sign up for one of our trips to when you reach your final destination, our organization strives to create a connection between the two aspects of our program: biking and building. As you ride you'll find that the two roles compliment and reinforce each other.

 

By virtue of completing a long-distance bike tour, you will assist and enable affordable housing efforts throughout the nation. As you travel you'll stop to talk with people about your summer, our program, and the housing landscape. You'll take breaks to work on construction sites and give town-hall style presentations to people throughout the country. You'll review, evaluate, and choose to fund grant proposals our organization receives. You'll find that traveling by bicycle - especially on a trip of this magnitude - is a great way to promote the housing cause, and you'll receive publicity and attention that you would not have seen off of your bikes.

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Yes, we could have fundraisers to donate straight to affordable housing, but that's not what this trip is about.  This trip is about spreading the word about what we're doing and why we're doing it.  This trip is about talking to people along the way and letting everyone know about the challenges faced by affordable housing groups in the US.  This trip is (for me) about being thankful for what I have and intentionally giving that up for a few months to make a difference.