WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mayors from around the country gathered in Washington, D.C. April 30 to raise awareness of homelessness in their cities and to call for solutions.

Homelessness rose an average of 12.1% across the country in 2023, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It rose 6.9% in Ohio.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM)’s Task Force on Homelessness met in the capital to lobby lawmakers and the White House toward policies to address homelessness.

The mayors called for three pillars of action: to expand veteran eligibility for housing vouchers so that veterans don’t have to choose between their disability benefits and housing, to lift the current cap on project-based vouchers, and to increase funding for housing choice vouchers.

Housing choice vouchers go to individuals, while project-based vouchers go to specific homes or units.

“It’s not just a West Coast problem, East Coast problem. This isn’t even just a big city problem,” said Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz. “This affects cities of all shapes and sizes in all parts of the country. Red states, blue states, all of it.”

Homelessness advocates said lack of housing was the main driving factor why many people can’t find homes.

Ohio alone is short 267,000 homes, according to a report by the Ohio Senate.

“We do agree that there needs to be an expansion of vouchers so that more individuals can receive it. It is the key to housing stability,” said Amy Riegel, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO). “But we also at the same time need more housing units and more education for landlords to understand the value of the housing choice voucher and how it really helps to stabilize communities.”

Mayors said raising the project-based voucher cap would incentivize building more affordable housing. Currently up to 20% of units in a single building can qualify for project-based vouchers. The group called to raise that cap to 50 percent.

“The only way we’re going to be able to build more units is to have more project-based vouchers,” said Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley.

Both mayors and advocates said homelessness has become a partisan issue when it should instead focus on the people experiencing it.

“We have to remember the humanity, the dignity and the respect that have to be offered to each and every one of those individuals as they experience some of the most difficult days of their lives,” Riegel said. “So we don’t need rhetoric; we need solutions.”

President Joe Biden has named affordable housing as a priority. His proposed 2025 budget includes $258 billion to reduce housing costs.