As Housing Secretary Ben Carson moves to make life more difficult for America’s struggling poor from his well-furnished, secure office in Washington, D.C., a national exhibit, “Evicted,” has opened in the National Building Museum across town. The exhibit is a compelling look at the grim, painful and often lasting experience of being without a home, and serves to alert the public to the fact that eviction has become nothing short of a national health crisis.
Housing insecurity can undermine the stability of communities; eviction can affect everything from physical and mental health to performance on the job and in school. And, eviction can follow families for the rest of their lives. With negative rental histories that evictions leave in their wake, future landlords, including affordable housing properties and public housing authorities, can deny them housing.