National Roof Over Your Head Day

Love is not all you need – you will also need food, clothes and a roof over your heads. Silly, but so true.

Moffat Machingura

At the end of a long day, there’s nothing quite like coming back to a warm house, with family and friends. When you’ve been working, or its cold outside, or even when you’ve just gone out for a walk, home is the place you dream of coming back to.

But for some people that’s not an option that exists, there is no roof over their head to come home to. National Roof Over Your Head Day reminds you to take a moment to appreciate the fact that you have a place to hang your hat, or if you don’t, to keep working for that most important of dreams.

History of National Roof Over Your Head Day

Born out of a response to the number of homeless people that are out there, even in highly developed first world countries, National Roof Over Your Head Day serves to bring awareness to the fact that there are so many people out there who don’t have this basic need.

100 million people are estimated to not have a roof over their head, and of those that do, 1.6 billion are seen as having inadequate housing for themselves and their family.

What National Roof Over Your Head Day really is, is a call to charity and social awareness. Homelessness is a real problem, but it can be overcome. There have been a lot of creative moves made to help alleviate this problem, with one notable method being rolled out in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The city discovered it was paying $20,000 a year to handle their homeless issue, including policing, arrests, healthcare, jail time, just to name a few. So instead they built homes they could put their homeless into for just $7,800 a year. Since then, homeless in the city has dropped by 72%, all while saving the town money.

How to Celebrate National Roof Over Your Head Day

Volunteer to Help

While it would be impossible for one person to fix the systemic problem of homelessness alone, when many people work together it can make a huge difference! Celebrate National Roof Over Your Head Day by volunteering to help. Get involved with an organization that is working to heal food insecurity, address addictions, promote education and provide housing for families in need.

For more information, contact the Coalition for the Homeless, the Institute for Justice, the National Low Income Housing Coaltion or the Urban Institute.

Fight for the Right to Shelter

Although the idea that a right to decent housing has been promoted since Franklin Roosevelt’s time, the practice is somewhat different. Voting citizens can use their voices to address housing issues by advocating for better legal rights in their local area, writing letters to local representatives and voting for candidates who are willing to help everyone have an appropriate place to live.

National Roof Over Your Head Day is about giving others opportunity and also being thankful for the gift that it is to have a safe place to live!