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Veterans

One-quarter of the homeless population are veterans. Veterans often become homeless as they face challenges in re-adjusting to civilian life. Post-traumatic stress and other mental and emotional conditions are common in veterans returning from combat, but many are not identified and treated. The inability to cope with these conditions, coupled with the difficulties in re-assimilation, […]

Rural Homelessness

Many people think of homelessness as strictly an urban phenomenon because homeless people are greater in number and are more visible in urban areas, but homelessness is pervasive in rural areas. The number of people who experience rural homelessness is unknown, but the last national count of homeless people found that 9 percent of homeless […]

Prison ReEntry

Each year, nearly 650,000 people are released from U.S. prisons, and over seven million are released from jails. People exiting prisoner or jails are at increased risk for homelessness. More than 10 percent of those coming in and out of prisons and jail are homeless in the months before their incarceration. Shelter use, both before […]

Mental Health

Homeless people suffer from high rates of mental health problems exacerbated by living on the streets and in shelters. The lack of residential stability makes care delivery more complicated. Approximately half of homeless people suffer from mental health issues. At a given point in time, 45 percent of homeless report indicators of mental health problems […]

Families

Most Americans underestimate how the problem of homelessness affects families. About 600,000 families and 1.35 million children experience homelessness in the United States. Family homelessness is more widespread than many think, but it is not an unsolvable problem. Across the country, hundreds of communities are planning to end homelessness, and a handful of communities and […]

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is the immediate cause of homelessness for many women. Research studies reveal that domestic violence is one of the most frequently stated causes of homelessness for families, with 13 percent of homeless families saying that they had left their last place of residence because of abuse or violence in the household. Domestic violence […]

Chronic Homelessness

Chronic homelessness is long-term or repeated homelessness accompanied by a disability. Many chronically homeless people have a serious mental illness like schizophrenia and/or alcohol or drug addiction. Most chronically homeless individuals have been in treatment programs, sometimes on dozens of occasions. The federal government’s definition of chronic homelessness includes homeless individuals with a disabling condition […]

Children and Youth

Youth homelessness is disturbingly common. Although the prevalence of youth homelessness is difficult to measure, researchers estimate that about 5 to 7.7 percent of youth experience homelessness. With at least one million youth on the streets and in shelter—and thousands more leaving juvenile justice, mental health facilities, and leaving foster care systems—the problem of youth […]

A Typical Story

Homelessness… Why is it more complicated than just a matter of choice? A Typical Story Imagine you are a single parent of two children, ages 4 and 8 years old. You have an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Development and worked for five years with an Early Childhood Development Center in rural Georgia. It is […]