The Royal Gazette's stories over the last couple of weeks on the two families who are living in cars should prove once and for all how serious the Island's affordable housing shortage is.

It may be tempting to surmise that these people have somehow brought this upon themselves or are "scammers" who want to get something for nothing.

But no one chooses to live in a car.

And in both cases, the adults were and are working. In spite of that, they could not afford a home.

What is most worrying is that the people who are most vulnerable to this are single mothers, who are at the bottom of the economic pile in Bermuda.

This is no secret. The Census showed that single mothers have the lowest household incomes. And housing advocates also know that they face discrimination when they try to secure affordable housing.

While the provision of emergency units at Southside may have alleviated the shortage it has not solved it.

This is an indictment on one of the richest countries in the world. While we trumpet our economic success, it begs the question of what the value of all this wealth is if we cannot look after our own.

To some extent, the families are victims of Bermuda's success. As the economy grows and Bermuda battles to meet demand with a finite amount of land, prices rise, and not just for housing.

At the same time, the transition of Bermuda's economy over the last two decades from tourism to international business has seen an increase in white collar jobs and a drop in blue collar service jobs.

These are big issues that need to be dealt with. To the Government's shame, scandal and inaction in the Bermuda Housing Corporation in the past five years means that the people who need help most have not received it.

And the Government's lack of a plan for housing means that what is being done now is too little too late.

Still, there is a silver lining in this tragic story. Once again, Bermuda's residents have stepped forward when confronted with a crying need and the outpouring of help for the families has been nothing short of incredible.

Offers of food, clothes, temporary housing, a laptop and money have inundated this newsroom and for that, at least, Bermuda should be proud.

That said, it should never have come to this. And it is up to the community that it should never occur again.