Lottery for a Home

A place to hang your hat. A roof over your head. A safe place for your children to sleep at night.

For thousands in the Twin Cities area, it feels like a pipe dream.

I just read this article in the Star Tribune, Looking for a place to call home in Plymouth. Over two days, about 3,700 people took applications for Section 8 housing in Plymouth, hoping to be one of the 300 drawn in a waiting list lottery. Last year, the Metropolitan Council received 25,000 requests for just 5,000 spots. In 2006, one in eight Minnesotans spent half of their household income on housing alone. Affordable housing is hard to find.

Our house may not be perfect. The furnace is old and inefficient. The windows let in wind and little rain on occasion. The air conditioner is probably on its last legs. It could use a paint job. It isn't one of the giant McMansions sprouting up in suburb after suburb. Years ago we could have stretched our budget and bought a bigger, newer house - but we wanted something that, if tough times came again, we could afford on one salary. No. It's not perfect, but it's safe and it's warm and I give thanks that we can rest easy there.

My heart, hopes and prayers go out to all of those people, waiting for a home.