Worse yet, about 16 percent of all households in the U.S. are “severely cost-burdened,” meaning they spend more than half of their total income on housing. Those who are “severely cost-burdened” are often one surprise expense away from homelessness, living constantly on the edge of dire poverty. While reporting for The Denver Post back in 2022, I spoke to one such woman, who lived in her car with her two kids. One of her children needed a medical procedure, forcing her to make the impossible choice between her kid’s health and paying rent. She, like any good mother, chose the former. Choices such as these highlight housing’s importance as a human right. And to be forced to go without it, writes author Matthew Desmond in his book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, is a profound societal failure.

“No moral code or ethical principle, no piece of scripture or holy teaching,” he wrote, “can be summoned to defend what we have allowed our country to become.”