Top Causes of Homelessness in America
Posted: Friday, January 29, 2010
by Jeff Maide
HomeAid
As many as 3.5 million Americans are homeless each year. Of these, more than 1 million are children and on any given night, more than 300,000 children are homeless.
While the general impression is that the homeless are primarily the chronic and episodic, those unfortunate individuals often seen living on the streets in the downtown areas of our cities, the fact is that more than half the homeless are families with children. The vast majority of these have been thrust into homelessness by a life altering event or series of events that were unexpected and unplanned for. Contrary to the belief that homelessness is primarily the result of major traumatic events or physical and mental disabilities, there are many top causes of homelessness in America.
For those living in poverty or close to the poverty line, an "everyday" life issue that may be manageable for individuals with a higher income can be the final factor in placing them on the street. A broken down vehicle, a lack of vehicle insurance, or even unpaid tickets might be just enough to render someone homeless.
Divorce costs and the associated lowering of a family's total income can cause one or more family members to become homeless. For families that can hardly pay their bills, a serious illness or disabling accident may deplete their funds and push them out onto the street. Today, the rapid, unexpected loss of jobs and resultant foreclosures has caused great dislocation among families and has dramatically added to the number of people without a roof over their heads.
Natural disasters often cause current housing situations to become untenable and costly repairs are often simply not possible. The results of Hurricane Katrina stand in bleak testimony to the power of nature to displace people.
The great challenge for the newly homeless is to figure out how to return to their normal lives. Organizations that build emergency shelters and transitional housing typically work with a larger number of service providers around the country whose mission is to provide the services, such as job training, social skills training, and financial training, that enable these people to regain employment and return to mainstream lives. The progression for these recently homeless is to first be housed in transitional residences where they can learn these skills, to graduate to assisted living in affordable housing while they build up economic reserves and rebuild their employment resume, and then to graduate to full, market rate housing.
Many of these service provider partners are household names, such as Volunteers of America, Rescue Missions, and the Salvation Army. Many others are local organizations formed to address specific homelessness issues in the community. By carefully vetting the qualifications and financial stability of these service providers, organizations that build emergency shelters and transitional housing are able to assure that their facilities are effectively utilized in the fight to end homelessness.
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Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)You can not ignore alcoholism, drug addiction and choice as reasons for homelessness too. thanks for your concern and the information."Choice" ...probably not applicable to homeless families, and probably a very slippery term in any case.
Jeff, been there done that...last year (2008 actually) my land-lord 'heard' the gov't was going to bail out homeowners...so he (wonderful soal he was) decided to stop paying his mortgages on 6 of his properties...to make a long story short...my wife and I (and 5 other families) were evicted from the properties we resided in (and we all lost our deposits, etc)...after spending our savings on a motel room...in desperation I sent my wife and kids to stay with a friend in Michigan...while I slept in the back of my truck (I have a "topper") in the beginning of January...I slept there for 6 weeks while I looked for work...and a place for my family to live...needless to sayNot every story is a simply as that you portray...nor as neatly presented. Great article though.Rich Vail, Pikesville, MDhttp://thevailspot.blogspot.comI'm surprised, Richard, you're explanation for your own family's homelessness sounds positively un-Republican. You blamed your landlord, rather than take responsibility for your own condition.Also, nothing in this story conveyed simple, or neat. The author presented what is far more likely to be the case in this age, than the simple and far less proportionate explanations of "drugs," "alcohol," and "choice." The situation you describe happened to you sounds like it fits the presented model very well: "For families that can hardly pay their bills, a serious illness or disabling accident may deplete their funds and push them out onto the street. Today, the rapid, unexpected loss of jobs and resultant foreclosures has caused great dislocation among families and has dramatically added to the number of people without a roof over their heads."See? It sounds like you were one paycheck away from homelessness. No blame there, I'm just saying what happened to you is basically similar to many who suddenly find themselves homeless. I've been homeless, too, with a family. I had a brother who bought his house at a discount from an uncle, secured himself a union job, and for him it was easy to call me a lazy good-for-nothing. My landlord said he couldn't pay his house insurance, and out we went.Beyond that, I have far more respect for you for actually having been there and talking about it, compared to useless and stupid opinions by armchair social scientists who never have to worry about it happening to them.
Don't mis-interpret my motives for this comment. I'm trying to understand where insensitivity and disregard come from, as they don't seem like noble "family values." If it is true that people are homeless by choice, don't you think we have enough resources to provide some basic shelter? Doesn't have to be fancy, just dry and warm, with beds.Greg, the real difference is that I paid my rent, on time. My landlord has since fled the country to avoid having to pay restitution. I took him to court, as did 4 of the 5 others. We were able to consolidate our cases and present them them one after the other. When the court ruled against the landlord, to avoid having to pay more than $25,000.00 in rents, a like amount in deposits as well as the same amount in damages. The judge was not happy, unfortunately, he was a slippery eel and "sold" his remaining holdings to family members to avoid having leans placed on his property. He now resides outside of the U.S. If I had the money he owes my wife and I, I wouldn't have been in the position I ended up in.Now...you know, the rest of the story...Richard, I have no doubt you did everything right that you were supposed to do, and still, the system failed you. A lot of homeless people are not there by choice, but by circumstances over which they have no direct control. I went from a $60,000 a year job as a programmer to nothing in one year. Wasn't fired, and a good thing, too, because I at least got a fair severance. I couldn't get hired watering plants, because I was over qualified. There are many stories like mine that I know of first hand, people who have gone through retraining only to wind up making bread on the third shift at a Whole Foods Market, and have to decide whether to eat, pay rent, or pay for their car insurance. What @#$@#&*es me off are the arrogant know nothings who call it "choice". Not you, but some others.
Basically, "life's like that" has become one of my favorite phrases...c'est la vie. What can you do? Not much...just deal with it...so we have.Richard and Greg- these are the stories that need to be told. Just because you were taking all the necessary steps to keep your home, unforeseen circumstances were just enough to put you on the streets. HomeAid helps people that are experiencing this! We build shelters that are available to those in the "interim" period of finding a new home, starting a new career, etc. I think you would agree that organizations like us can be a big help.That is really great, Jeff. What a wonderful enterprise. As Richard did point out, it works out better when private citizens are the first line of defense in helping out their brothers.The above comment was left by me, "G"- G
Hi Jeff,Interesting stuff here yet there have been many other things not mentioned. For example what Rich commented about. Thanks for the article and welcome to Searchwarp.
This was a well researched and thought out article. Having talked to many, many homeless people over the years, to find out how they got there, you have covered most of the bases well, but I would also concur with J. Schick that drug abuse (meaning alcohol and other chemicals) contribute to homelessness. In any case, we are not such a great country if people should be homeless at all. Like you said, so often one little problem, either being unable to pay an insurance bill, or an unexpected medical bill will put a whole family on the sidewalk. Then, you've got people who tend to console themselves by blaming the victim, without understanding the contributing factors. We are a nation of self interest that has forgotten to walk a mile in another man's moccasins before judging him.Greg, you're right...there are very many "disturbed" individuals who are "homeless" by choice. In downtown Baltimore, there is a church, at the foot of the freeway that feeds into the "inner harbour" where many dozens of homeless people camp out. Very many there are there by choice...or the results of bad choices in life. My example is merely "just one of those things that sometimes happen." Jeff has done excellently on his research and writing, on this we agree.This sure got to be a hot topic, eh? I was evicted with a baby and pregnant wife in the middle of a Wyoming winter. I lost 60% of my income one year when my wife lost her job. Still hav enot recovered. I have compassion for homeless. Our losses were our own faults. We prevailed, and were lucky.Been there. Only thing I would add is we are brought up with the messed up point of view of being stoics, not asking for help because it is the manly, "American" way. We perpetuate the wrong-headed thinking of our parents. If you need a hand, we should be able to ask with dignity.Thank you for your comments. I agree with what you say. "If you need a hand, we should be able to ask with dignity." A lot more people would ask for help, if this was the norm.Greg, the point we've (Jack & I) been trying to make is that the government isn't the one to turn to for help...the government isn't the answer. There are plenty of private organizations around that help those who need it you just have to be willing to follow their guidelines.In all of my travails, not once did I turn to government for help. I didn't need it. I don't need a nanny to tell how to live my life...nor do I need big brother looking over my shoulder.
I commend you for the research you've done to write this piece. I do agree with some people's feedback that there are many other aspects or ingredients not considered in this argument. But what it does do is highlight the crude reality of a record number of homelessness in America. Well done, and welcome to SearchWarp!
officially, now...welcome to searchwarp sir!Thanks for your comments and point of view.
Lots of good information on a very important subject.As the state of the economy deteriorates, not only will there be more people who are thrust into homelessness, but there will also be fewer contributions to agencies that help the homeless. It's a vicious circle.
Interesting article and a difficult topic. Many of us are uncomfortably close to being forced to live on the streets. And the truth is (in my opinion) what separates the ones that do and the ones that don't ... in most cases (certainly not all) is choice. I recently read "Wake Up! Your Life is Calling." by Andy Feld and he speaks about tragedy as an opportunity to step up and create a better life. I know this may sound harsh to many people - and to those people I say this is only my opinion and I could be wrong.thanks for listening,KimKim- that is a good point to make. We can only help those stay off the streets forever that are motivated to help themselves as well. They must continue to fight the good fight!
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