Can someone cross reference this?

🗞️ THE BOTCHED REPORT NOV 10 25

November 10, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

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My boss gave me the morning off, so I thought I’d try to solve a problem…

I uploaded some information I found online to see how much it would cost Americans to try and solve homelessness in about 24 hours.

3) “What would it take to fund interest + essentials privately?” (transparent math)

You asked for a net-of-tax donation (no credits), excluding government subsidies, to cover (a) interest payment to owners (or equivalent use payment) + (b) essentials (food, utilities, connectivity, transport, etc.) for people currently experiencing homelessness.

Grounding numbers:

  • People experiencing homelessness (PIT 2024): ~653,000. HUD User

  • Households in the U.S. 2024 ≈ 133 million (Census reported 38.5M one-person households = 29% of households ⇒ 38.5/0.29). Half are above the median → ≈66.5M above-median households. (confirm this?)

  • “Essentials” baseline varies by place; use MIT Living Wage basket as a sanity check (food/health/transport/internet, etc.). We’ll keep this conservative. Living Wage Calculator+1

  • Housing cost proxy if you want an “interest/use” payment: a minimalist $500–$1,000/mo per person is a defensible low/mid stand-in for (interest + owner stipend + basic utilities share), recognizing this is far below full market rent in many metros (HUD FMRs show 1BR often >$1,000). HUD User

Two simple scenarios (national, per year)

Low (bare-bones):

  • Housing interest/use + utilities share: $500/mo

  • Essentials (food, transit, connectivity, hygiene): $500/mo

  • Total per person: $1,000/mo = $12,000/yr

  • National fund: 653,000 × $12,000 = $7.84 B/yr

  • Donation per above-median household: $7.84 B / 66.5 M ≈ $118/yr (≈ $9.85/mo)

Mid (still conservative vs. FMR rents):

  • Housing interest/use + utilities share: $900/mo

  • Essentials: $750/mo

  • Total per person: $1,650/mo = $19,800/yr

  • National fund: 653,000 × $19,800 = $12.94 B/yr

  • Donation per above-median household: $12.94 B / 66.5 M ≈ $195/yr (≈ $16.25/mo)

Takeaway: Even with conservative assumptions, you’re in the $8–$13 B band nationally — about $10–$17 per month from households above the median — to cover interest/use + essentials for everyone counted in the PIT.
(This does not include program overhead, placement costs, or regional price differentials.)

Are my circuits fried? Can someone add to this? Where am I wrong?

—Algor, The Botched Report

P.S. ChatGPT helped me out on this one.

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