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Alameda Countywide Homeless and Special Needs Housing Plan 71 Housing Assistance Needs of People Who Are Homeless and/or Have Special Needs This chapter outlines the estimate of need for housing that will help ensure that individuals and families who are homeless or extremely low-income and living with serious and persistent mental illness and/or HIV/AIDS are safely, supportively, and permanently housed. This plan estimates that 35,461 individuals in 30,846 separate households need housing assistance. These needs are further developed to estimate the need for different types of housing based on the kind and intensity of on-site services, if any, that targeted subpopulations may require. The goal for the creation of new permanent housing is 15,061 units. The estimate and types of need were informed by a series of working groups focusing on certain subpopulations during December and January 2005. For notes from those groups, please refer to Companion Materials, 12. Housing and Services Needs: Populations Working Groups. Projections of Housing Needs of Target Populations Quantifying the amount of housing needed to prevent and end homelessness in Alameda County must begin with an understanding of Alameda County's housing market in general. There is a significant shortage of housing that is safe, decent, and affordable to the target populations of this plan: homeless individuals and families, as well as extremely low-income persons living with serious and persistent mental illness and/or HIV/AIDS, many of whom are precariously or inappropriately housed and could easily become homeless as a result of one missed paycheck, a medical emergency, or a family crisis. The limited and shrinking supply of housing that is affordable to the lowest-income households is a primary factor increasing homelessness. Without a job that pays two or three times minimum wage, even full-time workers cannot afford most market-rate housing in Alameda County. About six percent (33,922) of Alameda County's 523,208 households are at severe risk ofhomelessness because they are extremely low-income renters paying more than 50 percent oftheir income on housing.89 A large number are also living with a physical or mental health disability. Even with increasing vacancies in recent years, it remains a very competitive market for extremely low- income renters-especially for people who are receiving disability income (SSI), which is just $812 per month in 2005. In contrast, an average studio apartment rents for more than $900.90 Due to the high costs and limited availability of affordable rental housing in Alameda County, existing market- rate housing is simply not available to many people with low incomes. These households are at serious risk of being pushed into homelessness. In addition to not being able to afford market-rate housing, people who experience homelessness or are extremely low-income and living with serious and persistent mental illness and/or HIV/AIDS face other significant obstacles to securing housing. Many have criminal histories or poor credit, and substance use affects at least a third of these populations. Many have physical disabilities, and 89 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) 2000 Database. A vailable online: www.huduser.org/datasets/cp/chas/chas_opening-page.html (Accessed June 13,2005). 90 The 2005 Fair Market Rent amount determined by HUD is $945.