To the editor:

Pope Francis went directly to a homeless shelter after he spoke to Congress last Thursday. In Lawrence, 21 faith groups called for a campaign to address the plight of the homeless last spring. Although seven long years have passed since the onset of the Great Recession, the problem of homelessness remains acute, even among those of us with jobs.

Today, over a third of the people at the Lawrence Community Shelter have jobs. Forty of those workers have permanent jobs and 35 have full-time jobs, but their average pay is just $10.21 an hour. That’s above the minimum wage, but not much. And since the shelter can house only 125 people, many people in similar situations remain out of luck.

Lawrence needs to take decisive action to resolve this problem. That takes money as well as good will. Can we find the money? I believe we can. Over the summer we saw road projects everywhere. Plainly, we need decent roads without potholes. But we also need decent housing that is truly affordable.

Currently, according to the federal government, a family with one minimum-wage income cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom unit anywhere in the United States — anywhere. Locally, the fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit is $815. To afford that rent without falling into poverty, full-time workers in Lawrence need at least $15.67 an hour. The city can’t wait for jobs like that to materialize. We need action, and sooner rather than later.