[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 30 (Thursday, February 25, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H896-H897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             END HUNGER NOW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, last week during our district work period, 
I spent the night at the Interfaith Hospitality Network, a family 
homeless shelter in Worcester, Massachusetts. This was my second time 
spending a night there in recent years.
  It was a wonderful opportunity to hear firsthand the stories of 
families who are facing tough times and to see the incredible support 
provided by groups like IHN.
  In today's media environment, where every development in the 
Presidential campaign gets a breaking news banner, it is easy to lose 
sight of the real issues impacting real families, and homelessness is 
one of those real issues.
  In 2015, more than 500,000 Americans were homeless on any given 
night. Of that number, more than 200,000 were people and families and 
nearly 50,000 were veterans.
  Even in Massachusetts, which is one of the richest States in the 
Nation, homelessness continues to be a challenge in many of our 
communities.
  In recent years, State budget cuts have led to a record number of 
homeless children in Massachusetts, and the overall uptick in 
homelessness has led to overcrowding in shelters, with thousands of 
families being turned away.
  In the richest country on the planet, it is simply astonishing that 
anyone is homeless, but the fact is this continues to be a persistent 
problem. Fortunately, there are amazing organizations like the 
Interfaith Hospitality Network that are making a difference.
  IHN works in partnership with the faith community to provide shelter 
and assistance to families with children who are homeless. Their 
primary goals are to assist families by increasing their income and to 
help them secure permanent housing while providing critical support 
services necessary for them to succeed.
  It is a community bed shelter that provides private bedrooms and 
shared quality living areas for six families at a time who are 
homeless, but don't qualify for State-funded shelters.
  One of the points that the people I met made very eloquently was that 
sometimes life is very complicated and sometimes things don't work out 
as you expect them to.
  Many of the families that I met during my stay included at least one 
working parent, but they had fallen into the gap where they earned too 
little to make ends meet, but too much to qualify for other housing 
assistance programs.
  Some of the residents included college-educated parents with families 
that fell on hard times. Maybe a parent is sick or a child is sick or a 
parent got laid off from a job. Those families are not there because 
they made poor choices. There were a series of events that led to this.
  One thing parents at the shelter have in common is that they love 
their kids more than anything and they are working tirelessly to get 
back on their feet.
  The families at IHN are not charged rent and work with a caseworker 
to budget and save money for their own apartments. The caseworker also 
helps families access necessary health care or counseling, learn job 
skills, enroll in job training or educational classes, and assists them 
with other life issues.
  Mr. Speaker, IHN is a very special place. It is a home. It is 
comfortable. It is safe. Families prepare and eat dinner together. 
Children do their homework together, color in coloring books, and play 
games. IHN provides a sense of normalcy during these times of turmoil 
and uncertainty for these families.
  With each visit to the IHN shelter in Worcester, I am inspired to see 
that within our community there are so many wonderful people who care 
about their neighbors who are going through difficult times and who 
want to get back on their feet.
  The volunteers and staff are incredible people. Places like IHN 
represent the best of our community. There is a real need for places 
like this.
  Too often in this Chamber I have heard colleagues demonize and 
disparage America's poorest families, but those who are homeless don't 
fit into a stereotype.
  Every family faces different challenges. It is hard work to be poor 
in America. The families I met are working hard for a better life for 
their kids.
  We should be helping them get back on their feet, not kicking them 
while they are down. Certainly we should not be indifferent to their 
struggles.
  To help more of these families get ahead, we must do more at the 
national level to strengthen the social safety net and to better 
address homelessness, food insecurity, poverty, and many other issues 
which deserve to be front and center.
  Looking at the big picture, we need to be talking about how we can 
make sure that work pays enough so that all working families can afford 
rent and a place to live and be able to put food on the table for their 
kids.

                              {time}  1015

  We might start by increasing, at long last, the Federal minimum wage 
so

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that it is a livable wage. If you work in this country, you ought not 
to be poor, and you certainly ought not to be homeless.
  Mr. Speaker, in the richest country on the planet, I know we can do 
more to solve homelessness. Spending the night at the Interfaith 
Hospitality Network was a learning experience. I encourage all of my 
colleagues to do the same in their districts.
  Those of us who serve in Congress are blessed that we don't have to 
worry about whether or not we will have a roof over our heads on any 
given night, but there are many families, too many families all 
throughout this country who do. We need to do a better job of listening 
to their stories, of trying to lend a helping hand so that they can get 
out of their difficult situation and move on to a better life.
  I urge my colleagues to listen to what I said today and to do what I 
did and spend a night in a shelter in their own district.

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