Homeless Crisis
Being homeless is like living in a post-apocalyptic world. You're on the outskirts of society - Frank Dillane

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The 12 Biggest Myths about Homelessness in America
What exactly caused the American homeless rate to reach and sustain such heights? Some have cited the shutting of mental hospitals in the 1970s. Others have pointed to the lack of safety nets for military veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Still others have called out urban housing prices and cuts in government subsidies for affordable housing. Blaming the homeless, too, is not uncommon—bad choices, substance abuse, or a preference for life on the street are all popular explanations. But the statistical realities of homelessness upend many common assumptions about its causes, and how best to address it. Two-thirds of all homeless are single adults, while the remaining third are…
Resources
The Obvious Answer to Homelessness
And why everyone’s ignoring it.
What a landmark new study on homelessness tells us
Compared to the overall California population, researchers found non-white groups overrepresented among the homeless, with 26 percent of participants identifying as Black and 12 percent identifying as Native American or Indigenous. Thirty-five percent identified Latino/x as their sole racial identity or one of their racial identities.
This doctor wants to prescribe a cure for homelessness
Politicians up and down the West Coast declare that solving this problem is a top priority. But NIMBYism and political dysfunction continue to block progress. Maybe a doctor in the house is just what we need to prescribe the cure.
'SHELTER' Highlights the Fight to End America's Youth Homelessness Crisis
In SHELTER, VICE journeys to New Orleans to tell the story of teen homelessness from the point of view of the staff and residents of Covenant House— America's largest non-profit shelter that has been on the front lines protecting the lives of at-risk young adults for more than 40 years.
An Inconvenient Truth
Over the past couple of years, I’ve become increasingly interested in homelessness as a unique kind of moral failure in American society. My research has put me in contact with people experiencing homelessness, and these encounters have reinforced what should be common sense to us all: These are people whose drives, motives, and values are just as sophisticated and varied as everyone else’s are. They have opinions and ideas, they get embarrassed and self-conscious, they want to impress others and be thought of well.
California’s homelessness and affordability problems are rooted in one thing
“The results of the study confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing,” said Dr. Margot Kushel, one of the study’s authors. “I think it’s really important to note how desperately poor people are, and how much it is their poverty and the high housing costs that are leading to this crisis.”
Homeless Workers Face the Pandemic
What do stay-at-home orders mean when there’s nowhere to stay?
Homelessness During the Pandemic: What to Do and How to Help
For those who are homeless and need a place to live, there are options. Here’s a look at homeless resources, homelessness during the pandemic, and how those willing to help can get involved.
Homelessness in England has reached record levels – here’s why, and how to fix it
At national level, however, the single most vital ingredient is the political will to actually deliver properly affordable housing. This requires the state to provide sustained funding and to have a long-term strategic approach. Failing this, the lessons learned since the start of the pandemic, on the importance to society of a place to call home, will be lost.
How Can the U.S. End Homelessness?
Giving people access to support services and a place to stay can reduce the number of those living on the streets. But can that be done affordably?
How to cut homelessness in the world’s priciest cities
Above all, governments must tackle outrageous housing costs.
More Americans Are Ending Up Homeless—at a Record Rate
High housing costs and evictions push more people from homes, advocates say
Old and on the Street: The Graying of America’s Homeless
The emergence of an older homeless population is creating daunting challenges for social service agencies and governments already struggling to fight poverty.
Technology is far from a silver bullet for solving homelessness or child welfare issues
Ending homelessness and ensuring child and family well-being will require a commitment to decolonization and investments in housing, services and other forms of direct support. Technological solutions alone cannot deliver on these goals; worse, they may even detract from them.
The Facts That Matter Most This Veterans Day
This Veterans Day, as we say thank you, let’s ensure that we have a better understanding of the difficult mental and physical health issues that millions of our veterans face each day. Here are a few important and staggering statistics to give better context about the battles these heroes fight when they get home...
The Root Cause of the Homelessness Crisis
Thirty percent of the American homeless population and 50 percent of its unsheltered population live in California, more than 170,000 people total. Homelessness is primarily a function of the broader housing-unaffordability crisis, which in turn is primarily a function of how difficult local governments have made building new housing in the places that need it the most.
What Don’t You Know About Homelessness?
Most experiences of homelessness are hidden by design, but they reveal much about how communities work, or don’t.
What we keep getting wrong about homelessness and mental illness in the US
If an older man living on the streets becomes distressed when put in handcuffs, does he have a mental disorder?
What’s Homelessness Really Like?
Soy is one of 30 people The Times profiled about their experience with homelessness, part of an effort to illuminate the challenges and occasional mundanity of unhoused people’s lives. “Even as homelessness becomes more common, most of it remains hidden by design,” wrote Matthew Thompson, an editor who oversaw the project.
Why can't we stop homelessness? 4 reasons why there's no end in sight
So what's going on? Advocacy groups and researchers say a big driving force is the decline of affordable housing, a problem decades in the making but one that has grown significantly worse in the past few years. Here are a few ways it's playing out.
Young and Homeless in Rural America
Most social services come through the schools — but it can be impossible to get to them.
‘We have failed’: how California’s homelessness catastrophe is worsening
A new Guardian US series reports on a seemingly intractable crisis, and hears from those living on the edge in one of America’s richest states.
The 12 Biggest Myths about Homelessness in America
Most often, popular perceptions of exactly why a person might be homeless are driven by those who are most visible, and by their portrayals in the media.
11 myths about homelessness in America
Most homeless people are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Roughly one-third of sheltered homeless adults had chronic substance use issues in 2010, according to the SAMHSA.
4 Charts That Explain How People Slide Into Homelessness
People don’t usually become homeless suddenly. It’s often a chutes and ladders process, except with lots of chutes and hardly any ladders. And there’s a period right before they slide into having nowhere to live, during which, many experts believe, a couple of well-placed nets might be able divert them from being forced to sleep on the streets, in their cars, or other places that are not meant as homes.
National Alliance to End Homelessness
An acute physical or behavioral health crisis or any long-term disabling condition may lead to homelessness; homelessness itself can exacerbate chronic medical conditions. A person can become chronically homeless when his or her health condition becomes disabling and stable housing is too difficult to maintain without help.
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
NCHV will end homelessness among veterans by shaping public policy, promoting collaboration, and building the capacity of service providers.
National Coalition for the Homeless
The National Coalition for the Homeless is a national network of people who are currently experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, activists and advocates, community-based and faith-based service providers, and others committed to a single mission: To prevent and end homelessness while ensuring the immediate needs of those experiencing homelessness are met and their civil rights protected.
Homeless Hub
The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is the largest national research institute devoted to homelessness in Canada. The COH is the curator of the Homeless Hub – a library of over 30,000 resources.
Changing the Conversation
We discuss critical and timely topics focused on equity, homelessness, substance use, mental health, and trauma. Our hosts interview health and human service experts, researchers, and advocates. Conversations explore how we can adapt our systems to the rapidly changing landscape of social services.
National Center for Homeless Education
NCHE operates the U.S. Department of Education's technical assistance and information center for the federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program.

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