Most anyone who walks the streets of any city or town with a population large enough understands that homelessness exists. The debate often rages, though, just how widespread the problem is.
In 2007, the National Alliance to End Homelessness released its ‘Homelessness Counts,’ tracking progress in the fight to end homelessness in the two years since 2005. It was the first such widespread census since 1996 and still remained controversial.
The definition of homelessness — without a physical home, living transiently, living in temporary facilities or in an impermanent situation with family or friends — varies widely. So much so that a much publicized report that 1.5 million U.S. children experienced homelessness in 2005-06 was roundly criticized.
But figures and statistics — no matter how misleading they may be — are necessary in tracking progress and understanding the severity of the problem.
The Alliance estimate put the total number of people experiencing homelessness in the United States at just under 672,000, or about a quarter of a percent of the U.S. population.
It has been reported that some 1.56 million Americans were homeless at some point in 2009.
More than 40 percent of those experiencing homeless live entirely un-sheltered, and nearly a fifth of them are categorized as being ‘chronically homeless.’ Nationwide, homelessness was down from 2005 to 2007 in all categories, but, at the beginning of the year, the Alliance released an addendum [PDF] suggesting as many as 1.5 million more Americans could become homelessess due to the rising employment and ensnaring foreclosures of the the Great Recession.
In a 2008 report, the U.S. Conference of Mayors noted large increases in the number of people experiencing homelessness in 19 of 25 cities surveyed. Those cities surveyed reported on average a 12 percent increase of homelessness since 2007. (In 2005, the United Nations estimated there could be as many as 100 million people homeless worldwide)
Moreover, what makes the issue so jarring is its density in urban centers and the turnover at that figure — those who are experiencing homelessness today may not be tomorrow and may not have been yesterday.
Because Back on My Feet’s expansion plan involves first basing inside large population centers with a social services support need and active running community, it’s of particular interest to us to see what cities are most afflicted with homelessness issues.
According to that 2007 census from the Alliance [Excel download], the 20 largest homeless populations among metropolitan regions:
- Los Angeles (CA-600): 68,608 (60,289 in 2005)
- New York City (NY-600): 50,372 (48,155 in 2005)
- Detroit (MI-501) 18,062 (14,827 in 2005)
- Las Vegas (NV-500): 11,417 (12,198 in 2005)
- Houston (TX-700) 10,363 (12,005 in 2005)
- Metro Denver (CO-503): 8,698 (10,157 in 2005)
- Phoenix (AZ-502): 8,448 (7,278 in 2005)
- Seattle (WA-501): 7,902 (7,315 in 2005)
- Philadelphia (PA-500): 7,640 (6,653 in 2005)
- San Jose (CA-500): 7,202 (7,012 in 2005)
- San Bernardino City (CA-609): 6,969 (4,475 in 2005)
- Atlanta (GA-500): 6,840 (6,832 in 2005)
- Tampa (FL-501) 6,483 (9,921 in 2005)
- Chicago (IL-510): 5,979 (6,680 in 2005)
- San Francisco (CA-501): 5,703 (5,404 in 2005)
- Boston (MA-500): 5,104 (5,819 in 2005)
- Washington D.C. (DC-500): 5,320 (5,518 in 2005)
- Austin (TX-503): 5,281 (1,892 in 2005)
- Oakland (CA-502): 4,838 (5,129 in 2005)
- Riverside City (CA-608): 4,508 (4,785 in 2005)
We also have a chapter in Baltimore (MD-501), which had an estimated 2,607 people experiencing homeless in 2007, down from 2,904 in 2005.
It’s worth noting that overall population of a city or its region doesn’t proportionally reflect its homeless population. Two of the country’s ten most populous cities don’t have homeless populations that are even among the 20 largest: San Antonio and San Diego. Conversely, smaller cities like Las Vegas, Austin, San Bernardino and Riverside have sizable populations.
Two broader trends from the Alliance report:
- The largest national decreases in homelessness were among unsheltered persons in families (30%) and chronically homeless adults (28%). Decreases were also reported in total (10%), overall family (18%), unsheltered (13%) and sheltered (4%) homelessness.
- Homeless persons in families, in 2007, represent 37% of the homeless population (down from 41% in 2005); chronically homeless persons represent 18% of the homeless population (down from 23% in 2005); the unsheltered homeless make up 42% of the homeless population (down from 44% in 2005).
[...] More than 170,000 families visited U.S. emergency homeless facilities in 2009, a 30 percent spike from 2007, according to the study. The report did show that nationwide individuals experiencing homelessness on a given night dropped from 2008 to 2009, McClatchy reported. Read more about quantifying the size of the U.S. homeless population. [...]
[...] during 100 degree weather in the summertime and freezing temperatures in the winter. According to Back on my Feet , it was reported that some 1.56 million Americans were homeless at some point in 2009. I have [...]
[...] (ICPH) produced an interesting opinion brief discussing the way New York City handles its large homeless population. The conclusions reached by the institute support the merits of encouraging self-sufficiency, [...]
[...] on the street busking for money are just one part of homelessness — Census numbers for homelessness are controversial, as by nature, the numbers are fluid and nomadic and changing. People leave cities, neighborhoods, [...]
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This is really sad we should be giving to the community. Not taking homes we should take a stand to save lives and families.