To the editor:

Labor Day has come and gone, but the concerns of working Lawrence residents remain. Lawrence remains one of the most expensive places to live in Kansas, and housing is among the expensive necessities here. A one-bedroom apartment costs $664 per month at fair market price; two bedrooms set you back $860. If you crunch the numbers, a household needs more than $34,000 per year to pay the recommended 30 percent of annual income for a two-bedroom apartment here. Here’s a stunning fact: According to city figures, nearly 23,000 people here work full time and earn less than that $34,000 threshold.

Behind the numbers are working families living on the edge of income insecurity and housing stress. In fact, homelessness and lack of affordable housing are among the most telling symptoms of the gap between wages and the cost of living. Some families simply can’t make it work, and they end up homeless. Insecure housing is among the nonmedical determinants of health that research has shown to have lasting effects on the health of children as they age into adulthood.

Lawrence, we can do better. I urge all of us to think about ways we can help. Support community efforts such as Family Promise and the affordable housing trust fund promoted by Lawrence faith groups. Or simply be aware that the child sitting next to yours at school might lack the most basic of things: a roof over her family’s head and a safe place to live.