The Public Health Consequences of Public Housing Failures

Every year more than 10,000 taxpayer-supported public housing units are lost to disrepair. But federal lawmakers routinely ignore the full amount, around $115 billion, needed to keep the units in “decent, safe and sanitary” condition.

One-time funds for public housing repairs were cut from the final version of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to appeal to centrist Senate Democrats who cited the cost.

The results have been disastrous for the more than 1 million people who rely on public housing — mostly low-income, Black and Hispanic tenants — especially as rental prices and eviction rates soar.

It’s not just a matter of housing affordability; it’s also a public health imperative. Research shows that living in derelict housing contributes to higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, asthma, violence and other life-threatening risks.

Exposure to mold, cockroach, mouse and dust mite allergens are major contributors to childhood asthma. Deteriorating conditions can send people to the ER with falls and injuries. And toxic pollutants contribute to cardiovascular health problems.

Earlier this year, my colleague Fred Clasen-Kelly and I traveled to Yamacraw Village, a public housing complex in downtown Savannah, Ga. We spoke with residents who told us about the mold, rats and roaches that make them sick, and gunshots that disrupt their sleep. One former resident said he takes an allergy pill daily, years after leaving, because of mold exposure in his Yamacraw unit.

Last year, a consultants’ report found a host of problems in Yamacraw, including water leaks and faulty wiring. They estimated the “remaining useful life” of the property was 0 years.

In a city where the average two-bedroom apartment rents for more than $1,600 monthly and the housing assistance waitlist has more than 3,000 families on it, records show most of the 315 apartments in Yamacraw sit empty because so many units are uninhabitable.

The local housing authority argues that without more federal funds, there isn’t much it can do.

Starting with the Nixon administration, lawmakers slowed investing in new public housing as more Black families and other people of color became tenants. And during the Clinton administration a moratorium passed that effectively prohibits the construction of additional public housing units, because lawmakers soured on public housing after years of their own disinvestment.

Now a handful of Democratic lawmakers are calling for Congress to take another look at public housing.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and others recently introduced a bill that would create a new social housing authority to support construction of more affordable housing. It would also lift a 25-year-old moratorium on public housing construction and commit extra funds for public housing repairs.

But many Republicans oppose federally supported public housing, as do centrist Democrats. It’s unclear whether either a Trump or Harris administration would prioritize additional public housing funds.

That’s no surprise to Detraya Gilliard, whose 15-year-old daughter Desaray was shot and killed when they lived at Yamacraw Village. Gilliard is suing the Housing Authority of Savannah, alleging the agency failed to take added security measures in its public housing complexes.

Gilliard left Yamacraw and returns only to maintain a memorial for her daughter. “Nothing has changed before, since or after” her daughter’s death, she said.

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