Today we celebrate a birth….and homelessness. And as we all sit around the Christmas Tree or celebrate Chanukah, let’s take a moment to remember that the single most important figure in world history was born into homelessness….and as we now continue into a decade of this crisis, let us all remember we all live in this world together….
We have an obligation to one another and to the children of this world to work together to solve this problem….
From Martin Andleman:
This has been a very hard article for me to write. It’s been hard for me this year during the holidays. I want to be happy. I want to make this holiday season even more wonderful than the last, for my daughter, my wife and my family. But it’s just harder this year. Harder to forget everything else that’s going on around me.
The foreclosure crisis that began in mid-2006 continues to destroy the wealth of American consumers and the financial strength of our nation’s banking institutions. And, although it pains me to say it, the end is still nowhere in sight.
It now seems likely that, before the crisis is over, not just millions, but tens of millions of Americans will have lost their homes to foreclosure, and thousands of banks will have shuttered their doors for good. The scars will be deep and we will be a nation forever changed.
In 2007, the number of foreclosures filed hit 1.3 million, a 79% increase over 2006. In 2008, that number had risen to 2.3 million, an 81% increase over 2007. It appears that this year we’ll have something in the neighborhood of 3.9 million foreclosure notices sent out homeowners, if not more. And next year, absent some unexpectedly competent response from government, is all but certain to be even worse.
