Tuesday, December 21, is National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. The National Coalition for the Homeless has chosen December 21, the longest night of the year, to commemorate the lives of all the persons who have died on the street while homeless.
As we remember those whose lives ended on the streets of our cities, it is important to ask ourselves: WHO ARE THE HOMELESS AMONGST US?
Below is a snapshot of the homeless population in the U.S.A. The picture is not very different in other, industrialized Western nations.
AGE:
In 2003, children under the age of 18 accounted for 39% of the homeless population; 42% of these children were under the age of five (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2004). This same study found that unaccompanied minors comprised 5% of the urban homeless population. According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, in 2004, 25% of homeless were ages 25 to 34; the same study found percentages of homeless persons aged 55 to 64 at 6%.
GENDER:
Most studies show that single homeless adults are more likely to be male than female. Figures indicate that 67.5% of the single homeless population is male. The numbers for homeless households with children, however, are reversed. A 2007 survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that of the population surveyed, 35% of the homeless people who are members of households with children are male while 65% of these people are females
FAMILIES:
The number of homeless families with children has significantly increased over the past decade. Families with children are among the fastest growing segments of the homeless population. In its 2007 survey of 23 American cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that families with children comprised 23% of the homeless population (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2007).
As the number of families experiencing homelessness rises and the number of affordable housing units shrinks, families are subject to much longer stays in the shelter system. For instance, in the mid-1990s in New York, families stayed in a shelter an average of five months before moving on to permanent housing. Today, the average stay is 5.7 months, and some surveys say the average is closer to a year (U. S. Conference of Mayors, 2007 and Santos, 2002).
VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:
Battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness. In a study of 777 homeless parents (the majority of whom were mothers) in ten U.S. cities, 22% said they had left their last place of residence because of domestic violence. A 2003 survey of 100 homeless mothers in 10 locations around the country found that 25% of the women had been physically abused in the last year. In addition, 50% of the 24 cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors identified domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005).
Abuse (sexual, physical or both) is the leading cause of homelessness among young people. Young people who face abuse at home are more likely to run away and to eventually end up homeless. Once they end up on the streets, young people are more likely to end up being victimized by drug dealers and pimps, thus further perpetuating the cycle of abuse and making it harder for the homeless young to escape their situation.
VETERANS:
Research indicates that 40% of homeless men have served in the armed forces, as compared to 34% of the general adult population. In 2005, the U.S. Conference of Mayors' survey of 24 American cities found that 11% of the homeless population were veterans (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005). The 24 cities providing this information for the survey estimated that 13 percent of persons experiencing homelessness were veterans. Veterans are slightly over-represented among the homeless population compared to their prevalence in the overall population (11.2 percent) (U.S. Conference of Mayors 2008).
PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:
Persons with severe mental illness represented about 26 percent of all sheltered homeless persons. The 23 cities that provided information reported that 26 percent of their total homeless population (not just those living in shelters) suffered from a serious mental illness. By contrast, only six percent of the U.S. population suffers from a serious mental illness (U.S. Conference of Mayors 2008).
PERSONS SUFFERING FROM ADDICTION DISORDERS:
Surveys of homeless populations conducted during the 1980s found consistently high rates of addiction, particularly among single men. Recent studies, however, have called the results of those studies into question. While there is no generally accepted "magic number" with respect to the prevalence of addiction disorders among homeless adults, the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ number in 2005 was 30%, and the frequently cited figure of about 65% is probably at least double the real rate for current addiction disorders among all single adults who are homeless in a year. Among surveyed homeless people 38% have an alcohol problem, and 26% report problems with other drugs (National Health Care for the Homeless Council).
EMPLOYMENT
Declining wages have put housing out of reach for many workers: in every state, more than the minimum wage is required to afford a one- or two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent. In fact, in the median state a minimum-wage worker would have to work 89 hours each week to afford a two-bedroom apartment at 30% of his or her income, which is the federal definition of affordable housing (National Low Income Housing Coalition 2001). Thus, inadequate income leaves many people homeless. The U.S. Conference of Mayors' 2005 survey of 24 American cities found that 13% of the urban homeless population were employed (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005), though recent surveys by the U.S. Conference of Mayors have reported as high as 25%. In a number of cities not surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors - as well as in many states - the percentage is even higher (National Coalition for the Homeless, 1997).
When asked to identify the three main causes of hunger in their city, 83 percent of cities cited poverty, 74 percent cited unemployment and 57 percent cited the high cost of housing. (U.S. Conference of Mayors 2008).
With no end in sight to the current national unemployment rate of around 10%, the number of homeless in our society will increase, or at least remain at its current levels. If predictions of a permanent unemployment rate of around 14% turn out to be true, there will be a marked increased in the number of the homeless men, women and children in our country.
Thus, the time to take action is now. Contrary to what some would like us to believe, homelessness is not an intractable problem. What is required is for our governments to take courageous and creative steps to stop the problem.
Maybe if we all act now, some day (I hope soon) I will no longer have to report about the homeless. Wouldn’t that be the best Christmas present ever!
On Tuesday, December 21, please take a moment to honor those who have died homeless in the past 12 months. Say a silent prayer for their souls’ safe passage into the next world.
They found Dixon Albert in the Ventura River bed.
Chronic liver and kidney disease destroyed the homeless man’s body, but when his friends found him on a cold morning, Albert’s heart was still beating.
After a call to 911, an ambulance took Albert to the hospital.
Those who knew him held out hope. But it was too late.
He died five days later. He was 43.
“He was my strength,” said Albert’s brother, David, who is also homeless. “We were homeless since we were kids. He was my best friend.”
To read more about Dixon Albert and others like him who died this year please go here:
Service Honors Local Homeless Who Have Died in 2010
To read more about the National Homeless Persons Memorial Day, please go here:
National Homeless Persons Memorial Day
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