My resident assistant job right now during the school year gives me free housing and meals at the dining hall, but I get no income and by contract I am not allowed to obtain another job or else I get fired.

You can daisy chain many units together to create a lot of hot water at once. 

Demand: This is the hard one, because people need places to live so I think you'll see some movement down the value chain.

Like @Mike Dymski said, simply the impact on the supply chain will be enough impact to have an outsized impact on GDP.  

I'll buy food for them, pay a bill for them, take them out for a meal but never ever give them cash.In the end we all suffer on behalf of people that make poor choices.    

I am blessed to have very affordable rent, (I rent out a room in a house) negotiated a low cell phone bill, and meal prep all my meals so my food cost is about $40/week or $160/mo.

I continue to network and work referral base (one realtor at a meetup started a referral chain for me of 15 units) as that has best ROI long term.

Pay cash be local and hands on and realize what your dealing with and don't evict over co pay not paying.. too much debt right now going into non appreciating assets is  what I see.. and that will really hurt investors when they decide heck this simply is not worth it.. its not financial freedom its financial ball and chain and they go to exit and its not pretty.. when you own in cash you can ride the waves   sit out the thunderstorms and you have a variety of exits that are real and can be achieved without loss of capital. 

Yeahhh, go ahead and give poverty a whirl for a time, getting your meal at a food shelf, dodging bullets on way to/from school, trust me when your really poor and broke, it is absolutely everything! 

I have eaten some meals before where you take a bite,time stops, and I am floating through the Universe.