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: (7 total)You can not ignore alcoholism, drug addiction and choice as reasons for homelessness too. thanks for your concern and the information.
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.com
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.
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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