Family Homeless Up; Chronic Homeless Down

Thursday, January 07, 2010
Homeless Family in San Diego (photo: Tamandra Michaels, Heart Dog Studios)

Despite two years of recession, cities throughout the United States are reporting progress in getting chronic homeless individuals off the streets. The United States Conference of Mayors, which conducts an annual survey on homelessness, has reported that 16 of 27 cities surveyed experienced a leveling or reduction in the number of homeless people in their areas during the previous year. The organization attributed the success to “policies aimed at ending chronic homelessness among single adults with disabilities.”

 
However, not all the news was good in the mayors’ report. Bleak economic times and a lack of affordable housing have caused family homelessness to rise in 19 of the cities. There also was an increase of 26% in requests for food assistance, the largest jump since 1991. The rise was exacerbated by requests from middle class households, which ordinarily donate food to pantries rather than ask for help.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
 
Hunger and Homelessness Survey (U.S. Conference of Mayors) (pdf)

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