The housing crunch is making it tough for many, but people who encounter difficulty finding accommodations in the best of times are really hurting these days.

Those coming out of the correctional system depend on supports being in place to help with things such as employment and accommodations. Some have a place to go to upon release from incarceration, but those who do not may end up couch surfing.

Cindy Murphy, Executive Director of the John Howard Society, says you can have all the support services in the world but if a former inmate does not have proper housing, they are at greater risk of falling back to previous ways.

She says some property owners are reluctant to rent to people with a criminal past.

She says it’s easy these days to google somebody’s name and if they’ve had a criminal justice past they will just tell the person that they have already committed the apartment to someone else. Murphy says that happens quite often.