In Case There's Any Doubt About the Need for Affordable Housing

The agency I work for opened its Section 8 waiting list last week. In five short days, we had over 5100 people through the doors for applications. They waited hours in lines that stretched a full city block, some days in icy rain, others in wind, and for a lucky few, blue skies and warm sun.

You could count our current number of Section 8 vacancies on your hands and feet, so the odds of getting housing this round are, well, you can do the math. Sure, more vacancies will open over time, but it's a sorry state of affairs out there for those in need of an affordable place to live.

Here's a smattering of things I observed in my three days working the line:

-Good cheer: people were amazingly congenial considering their long waits and limited odds

-Hundreds of adorable kids and just a handful of crying babies

-Four women named Unique, one named Sparkle, and one named Chakakahn

-Three men who could produce no photo IDs other than inmate-identification cards

-License photos that told of happier, more stable times

-Countless people about to change their addresses because their current residences (mostly multi-unit rentals) had been foreclosed upon

-Women who could provide only PO boxes because they live in domestic-abuse shelters and are prohibited from giving a street address

-A photographer covering the story for the Chicago Reporter, who said he expected to be in line next year, considering the current state of the journalism profession

-A surprising number of applicants who looked just like me

-An occasional drunk

-An occasional crossing guard

-An occasional applicant in medical scrubs

-Many with crutches or canes who refused the offer of a chair

-Desperation, mettle, and hope