Few people know the facts
For many Americans, the word “homeless” evokes a snapshot of a transient individual. In fact, the picture of homelessness in America today is a family portrait: Children and families make up the fastest growing segment of the homeless population.
According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, up to 700,000 men, women and children go homeless every night in the United States alone. The figure world wide magnitudes higher. Homelessness and poverty are tightly linked. People who are living in poverty often must choose between food, shelter and other basic needs. Some very difficult choices must be made when limited resources can only go so far. For the poor, an accident, a medical crisis, a lost paycheck can all translate into not having a place to call home next week.
Contrary to popular belief, the homeless is not lazy and dependent exclusively on public welfare. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, on average in the United States, a single worker earning minimum wage would have to work 87 hours each week just to pay for a 2-bedroom apartment with 30% (Federal definition of affordable housing) of his or her income. The rest would be barely sufficient to acquire other necessities such as food and clothing. As a result of low wages, many impoverished workers are forced out of their homes when extenuating circumstances come into play. In fact, up to 40% of the homeless are employed and working.
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Myth
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Fact
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Most of them are mentally ill.
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The mentally ill comprise about 25% of the national total homeless. Many are unable to access mental health services and are too ill to stay in a shelter.
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They are heavy drug and alcohol users.
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Some homeless are substance abusers; research suggests one in four. Many of these are included in the 25% who are mentally ill.
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They want to be that way.
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Less than six percent of the homeless are homeless by choice. Another group singled out by homelessness is the elderly. A 1992 Urban Institute study indicated that up to 31% of homeless persons were over the age of 45 and this percentage is growing. With less income from work and more necessary expenditures such as medications, many elderly people are having to make a choice between food, shelter and medications
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They don’t work.
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30% of the homeless are employed on a full-time or part-time basis. Someone who works full-time at a minimum-wage job takes home about $900.00 per month and is at great risk for homelessness. Housing is between 400-800 per month, leaving them with no money for food.
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They are to blame for their own situation.
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Most homeless people are victims. Some have suffered from child abuse or domestic violence. 20% are children. Some are mentally ill. Many have lost their jobs after years of employment. All have lost their homes.
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They are dangerous.
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In general, the homeless are among the least threatening and most vulnerable group in our society. If anything, they are the victims of crimes, not the perpetrators.
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The homeless are only in large urban areas.
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The homeless are found not only in large cities, but in small towns, rural areas, and affluent suburbs. There are many homeless in Florida.
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The homeless are uneducated and unemployable.
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Many homeless people have completed high school; some have attended college and even graduate school.
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Not many children are homeless.
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Children make up at least 20% of the homeless population. Families with children is the fastest growing group of homeless. Nationally, one in five people in a soup kitchen line is a child. Many homeless children are alone and homeless, either runaways or “throwaways”.
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For more information regarding these stats, visit the National Coalition for Homeless
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It has been said that every human being has a primary and fundamental right to adequate food and shelter. Yet so many people in our world are deprived of this basic right. This right of feeling a warm bed at night, in a place called home.
