Suddenly Homeless in America



Posted: Wednesday, March 24, 2010

by Jeff Maide
HomeAid

Flash back to the images from the Great Depression and to the stories told by elder relatives that survived those challenging years. It was a time that marked America's lowest economic condition and biggest success in overcoming adversity. That is, until recently.

A Not-So-Distant Memory

Today the United States is facing an economic crisis that often brings references to the Great Depression. One of the biggest hardships citizens are facing today is homelessness. Just as in the years following Black Tuesday, tent cities consisting of a multitude of tents or makeshift shelters in specified areas or just outside city limits are again springing up across the country. Within these 'cities' are dozens if not hundreds of families struggling to survive.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the recession will force an estimated 1.5 million more people into homelessness over the next two years. The causes will vary but the majority will be due to:

Approximately one-third of the nation's homeless population consists of families with children. With the rapid decline of the economy, this number is continuing to rise. At the end of 2007 roughly 37.3 million U.S. households reported having severe housing cost burdens. Now, two years later, the burdens have grown and many families are falling victim to the home foreclosure crisis as well as the layoffs that have been sweeping the country.

Lasting Effects

A 2009 study by the National Center on Family Homelessness found that 1 out of 50 American children become homeless each year. The impact this increase is having on the younger generations is nothing less than tragic.

The study estimates that some 83 percent of homeless children will have been exposed to at least one serious violent event before they reach 12 years of age. Of those, nearly 25 percent will have witnessed acts of violence within their own families (i.e. physical abuse). Homeless children have three times the rate of emotional and behavioral problems of non-homeless children. They are also four times more likely to experience delayed educational development.

How to Help

Now more than ever is a crucial time to get involved. Organizations across the country are banding together to aid those in need and greatly welcome any support offered. Some of the diverse opportunities available include:

These organizations are putting forth a great effort but always need more help. Even the smallest contribution can make a lasting impression on someone who truly needs and appreciates it. By working together Americans can fight back against homelessness and give this country another triumph over adversity.



About HomeAid

HomeAid is a leading national non-profit organization that builds and maintains dignified multi-unit housing where America's suddenly homeless families and individuals while they rebuild their lives. HomeAid has built more than 200 multi-unit facilities with an additional 36 in development. These shelters provide more than 1,800,000 bed-nights per year nationwide to help the suddenly homeless. To learn how you can help the homeless, please visit: http://www.homeaid.org

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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)
» left by Linda DeWitt
 2 years 58 days ago.
67 fans. Follow Linda DeWitt on twitter!
There are still many people in our area running around homeless and hungry. I've been out today checking to see what I can do to help. There are many things we can do. If we are interested all we  have to do is just ask around. Good article.
» left by Goshwin
 2 years 54 days ago.
Hi Jeff
 
Great article, well-written. This is an issue close to my heart and actually experienced by me and my children for a while. Many people have an inadequate and sometimes totally false impression of the homeless. Though the word "homeless" is the chosen term for people who do not have a home and typical things that the "non-homeless" have, it contains negative overtones that are fallacious.
 
While living in New England we experienced a side of life that many people would have felt was unfortunate or bad luck, etc. It was not. I was introduced to a part of the population of the world that many have never and will never meet. These people were survivors first and foremost. They were NOT the uneducated nor were they the abused or abusers. Adults or children. They were people that for whatever reason, and there were many, had lost their "normal" way of life. In the soup kitchens I met more educated people than not. Teachers, doctors, psychologists, lawyers, even a biologist to name just a few. They sat gracefully thankful for the meal. The conversations were fantastic. Many were fishermen that all the new regulations had put out of work, especially clammers. Very few, actually no, "uneducated or abused or abusers". The children smiled and laughed and talked just like "normal" children.
 
The impact of this "displacement" that my children experienced was all for the good. They got to experience a way of life and a group of our population that many "look down upon". They learned many positive things that now as adults serves them well. Their acceptance, compassion and non-judgment of anyone being the predominant. The other is that they learned survival skills that many who sit at home in front of their TV's will never learn.
 
As a society overall we have become dependant for every nuance of our being, we have raised children just as dependant. When so-called tragedy strikes and a family becomes "homeless", which we are seeing more and more, people who up until this happens had the typical American lifestyle have no clue how to survive.
 
We lived in tents in a primitive camp ground in Cape Ann for a year, 4 months out of necessity another 6 out of choice. Yes there were many hardships but many more positive things. My boys learned to gather wood first thing every morning for our fire to keep warm and for cooking. They took jugs to be filled with water to wash the dishes, brush teeth, etc. They learned comradery and cooperation without TV or a school. My daughter loved her life, she was 3 years old. She learned to appreciate the outdoors, the many insects, salamanders, lizards, birds. They became more fit due to climbing and playing with nothing to entice them to sit and be sedentary. They learned to appreciate simple, healthy food and develop patience while waiting for it to cook over an open fire. When a Nor'easter came bringing torrential rain, winds and cold my children dealt with it like it was nothing. Each knowing what to do without being told, looking out for each other, "battening down the hatches" so to speak. Never a complaint. When the day came for us to return to "normal" life my daughter cried because she loved living outside with all its wondrous offerings. It took a long time for her to adjust to being "cooped up" behind closed doors.
 
The positives of this "lifestyle" are many. Most of the negatives have to do with people's perspective in relation to what they feel they have lost and to the stigma that they have to deal with from the "non-homeless".
 
I am not encouraging people to adopt this lifestyle or that it is easy or saying that no one should offer assistance to displaced people, but I am saying when you offer assistance do so in a manner that does not imply pity and take the time to listen to these survivors. You may be pleasantly surprised to learn that they have much they can tell you and teach you. But not if you see them as "the needy" and yourself as "the helper".
 
Blessings
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