Losing one’s home has both short-term and long-term negative effects on people. It can disrupt marriages and relationships and produce undesirable behavioral changes in children. The fallout of losing one’s home brings with it the catastrophic loss of investments, dignity, safety, aspirations and the ability to provide basic needs for oneself and one’s loved ones.
Moody’s Economy.com predicts that 1.9 million homeowners in the United States will lose their homes to foreclosure this year.
In Haiti, an article in the Washington Post today notes that more than one million displaced people don’t have “adequate shelter” — meaning? A tent? Or less? USAID has sent 7,000 rolls of plastic sheeting with another 5,000 on the way (Question: how many people can a “roll” cover?). The rainy season is also on its way.
A study conducted by the National Council of La Raza and the Center for Community Capital at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill looks at the effects of housing foreclosures on U.S. Latina families. It is based on interviews with 25 families in Texas, Michigan, Florida, Georgia and California.
Half of the parents reported problems in their interpersonal relationship with more than a third considering divorce or separation. Half of the families said that, after the foreclosure, they had more conflicts with their children and their children had more problems in school.
The American dream has turned into a bad one for many thousands of people who invested their savings into buying a home only to lose it all when the economic crisis hit.
And the Haitian dream for more than a million people tonight? Some plastic sheeting, please.
Image: “Sign Of The Times – Foreclosure,” creative commons licensed content by Flickr user
anthropologyworks 
Thx for publishing this. My husband just got back last week from Haiti doing earthquake relief through an informal aid network of employees of a local business. These people lost their homes but are lucky because they still have some employment to help them support their families. However, No one should have to raise a family on handouts of rice and beans living outside under a plastic tarp.
Haitians need real houses and real jobs. However, both will require structural change (social and political) as most of the land, resources and access to higher education are controlled by an elite minority. Instead of top down charity that reinforces dependency and the status quo, the Haitians need partnerships in re-building their country. When in doubt on how to help, ask a Haitian.
Thx,
Angela
Graduate student in Cultural Anthropology at CSUN
LikeLike