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Rent is one of the biggest stressors for individuals and families living below the poverty line. Pima County is facing a severe housing crisis due to a shortage of affordable housing and underfunded local rent assistance programs. Many Tucson residents are now facing eviction due to the lack of government funding allocated to address this issue. This struggle is the product of a lack of resources available to Pima County residents, one of Arizona's fastest-growing counties.

In light of the recent government shutdown, it is also important to understand the magnitude of families and individuals who are impacted by Tucson’s housing crisis.

Rent assistance, while helpful, is difficult to obtain, and many residents often do not know how to find the proper resources. A lack of funds from the government makes rent assistance hard to come by, and often the assistance provided is short-lived due to the broader issues of increasing rent and low wages. While interviewing individuals in Tucson who are below the poverty line for a research study, my classmates and I found that 119 out of the 282 individuals interviewed have experienced a rent increase in the last 12 months, with 21% of respondents feeling pressure to move due to this increase.

It is important to understand the magnitude of rent burdens to already struggling households. In the book “Evicted” by Matthew Desmond, he introduces how low-income households struggle to keep up with rent, even in poor-quality housing (Desmond, 2016:13).

Throughout Pima County, the housing crisis impacts residents; housing costs go up, while wages stay the same. Households already struggling to make ends meet are having to readjust funds in order to keep a roof over their heads.

Having enough money to pay rent is a major stressor for many Americans, but when we look at the Tucson area specifically, we see a cry for help.

In a study done by The Journal of Affordable Housing in 2024, they reported “Likewise, sixty-three percent of renters report that their rental problem affected their lives ‘very much’ or ‘severely’” (2024:402).

Survey results from my classes' research study revealed that out of the 282 Pima County residents interviewed, 34% of residents experience major stress regarding housing costs. An additional 21% reported moderate stress, and 12% reported minor stress over the costs of housing.

One last important argument to consider in this issue of rent assistance brought up in Desmond’s book “Poverty, By America” is the availability of resources not being used for poverty safety-net programs. “Part of the answer, I learned, lies in the fact that a fair amount of government aid earmarked for the poor never reaches them” (Desmond, 2023:27). When we look at the issues with rent assistance in Pima County, the two major ones are long application processes and underfunding. Both of which are solvable by allocating larger funds towards helping households struggling to pay rent.

For Pima County to help its residents with rental assistance, it needs to shift from crisis response to long-term solutions.

Resources available to struggling households need to be more reliable in long-term situations, so residents are not left hanging. This calls for more funds to be allocated to rental assistance programs such as the Interfaith Community Services (ICS) and other nonprofit organizations devoted to helping residents struggling in the Tucson area.

Finally, we must ask ourselves: how accessible are these resources, and what can be done to make it easier to access them?