The Need For, & Gift of, Affordable Housing

By: Alyssa Stephens, Assisi House Intern

Have you ever heard of a solar bird bath fountain?

Recently, I was introduced to this delightful contraption through one of the residents at an Assisi House home. While I was visiting their home, the resident approached me with glee, saying, “there is something in the garden that I must show you!” The giddiness and childlike wonder of the resident was palpable as they led me out the front door, into the garden, and up some steps to the spot where they set up the solar bird bath fountain they recently discovered at Walmart. The love for birds that the resident expressed filled me with happiness as they recounted stories of recent sightings of birds frolicking in the fountain. Little moments like this, where individuals feel safe, settled, and empowered so that they can pursue their interests and care for one another and the greater world, are freedoms that permanent, stable housing provides.

Even though safe, secure housing is a fundamental human right, it is inaccessible to countless individuals and families across Missouri. Currently, the minimum wage in Missouri is $13.75. A 2025 study completed by the Living Wage Institute concluded that for a single adult with no children, $20.87 is a living wage, or the amount this person would need to earn hourly while working 40 hours per week to make ends meet. The stark disparity between minimum wage and living wage figures, which only markedly increases once dependents are accounted for, depicts the chasm between income individuals earn and what they need to earn to support themselves. 

Given the precarious financial circumstances individuals and families find themselves in, many turn to local, state, and national governments for support. Housing assistance programs help these people obtain affordable housing by filling key gaps in rental costs. Unfortunately, these programs are severely under-resourced, as reflected by the St. Louis City and County Housing Authorities no longer accepting applications due to such a high volume of applicants and long wait times for those whose applications were accepted. Even further, these programs have strict eligibility requirements that bar some of our most vulnerable community members who are undocumented or have mental health diagnoses, substance use disorders, criminal records from obtaining housing. These barriers are compounded by discriminatory de facto and de jure practices, which run as nefarious undercurrents of the entire social structures to hinder individuals and families from securing the stable housing they are so desperately clamoring for.

This semester, I have gotten the privilege of working as a practicum student at Assisi House, bearing witness to the transformational impact of stable housing. Day in and out, I observe the healing salve that permanent housing can be for an individual’s physical and mental health symptoms, sense of dignity, worth, and safety, and hopeful vision for the future. With the belief that housing is a right every person is entitled to at its foundation, Assisi House champions vulnerable housing insecure individuals towards resiliency, stability, and the pursuit of their unique goals. In turn, residents can engage in simple, everyday moments. Moments like making a meal, taking a warm shower, and sleeping on a bed. Even moments like setting up a solar bird bath fountain for birds and humans alike to delight in.