Cori Bush Leads Establishment of Caucus to End Homelessness

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Monica Obradovic

Representative Cori Bush and three other Democrats established the caucus.

A group of Democrats, including St. Louis’ own Cori Bush, have established a congressional caucus to eliminate homelessness in the U.S. 

The caucus will advocate for funding federal programs vital for serving unhoused people and act as a dedicated forum for members of congress to combat homelessness in the U.S. 

“The need for housing is universal, yet over 500,000 people across the country experience being unhoused,” Bush said in a statement. “This is the result of policy failures, and Congress has a moral responsibility to address the unhoused crisis.”

Bush established the caucus along with Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-California), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Oregon) and Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas). 

Nearly two dozen representatives make up the caucus as the Biden administration has pledged to reduce homelessness by 25 percent by 2025. 

While homelessness across the U.S. increased slightly in 2022 compared to 2020 (by just .3 percent), the number of chronically homeless people increased by 16 percent in the same time frame, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

In Bush’s own home state, the total number of people experiencing homelessness rose in the latest year data was available. From 2019 to 2020, the number of unhoused people jumped from 6,179 to 6,527.

The Congressional Caucus on Homelessness maintains that homelessness is a result of policies.

“This caucus provides an important forum for leaders in Congress to cultivate ideas and encourage our fellow members to support legislative solutions to continue to tackle the housing crisis and ultimately solve it once and for all,” Bush said in a statement.