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"Blessed are the poor and spirit, for for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven."

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1. Over half a million people are homeless

On any given night, there are over 600,000 homeless people in the US according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Most people are either spending the night in homeless shelters or in some sort of short-term transitional housing. Slightly more than a third are living in cars, under bridges or in some other way living unsheltered. The irony is that there are more empty houses in the United States than there are homeless people.
2. A quarter of homeless people are children
HUD reports that on any given night over 138,000 of the homeless in the US are children under the age of 18. Thousands of these homeless children are unaccompanied according to HUD. Another federal program, No Child Left Behind, defines homeless children more broadly and includes not just those living in shelters or transitional housing but also those who are sharing the housing of other persons due to economic hardship, living in cars, parks, bus or train stations, or awaiting foster care placement. Under this definition, the National Center for Homeless Education reported in September 2014 that local school districts reported there are over one million homeless children in public schools.
3. Tens of thousands of veterans are homeless
Over 57,000 veterans are homeless each night. Sixty percent of them were in shelters, the rest unsheltered. Nearly 5000 are female.
4. Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness in women
More than 90% of homeless women are victims of severe physical or sexual abuse and escaping that abuse is a leading cause of their homelessness.
5. Many people are homeless because they cannot afford rent
The lack of affordable housing is a primary cause of homelessness according to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. HUD has seen its budget slashed by over 50% in recent decades resulting in the loss of 10,000 units of subsidized low-income housing each and every year.
6. There are fewer places for poor people to rent than before
One eighth of the nation's supply of low income housing has been permanently lost since 2001. The US needs at least 7 million more affordable apartments for low-income families and as a result millions of families spend more than half their monthly income on rent.
7. In the last few years millions have lost their homes
Over five million homes have been foreclosed on since 2008, one out of every ten homes with a mortgage. This has caused even more people to search for affordable rental property.
8. The Government does not help as much as you think
There is enough public rental assistance to help about one out of every four extremely low income households. Those who do not receive help are on multi-year waiting lists. For example, Charlotte just opened up their applications for public housing assistance for the first time in 14 years and over 10,000 people applied.
9. One in five homeless people suffer from untreated severe mental illness
While about 6% of the general population suffers from severe mental illness, 20 to 25% of the homeless suffer from severe mental illness according to government studies. Half of this population self-medicate and are at further risk of addiction and poor physical health. A University of Pennsylvania study tracking nearly 5000 homeless people for two years discovered that investing in comprehensive health support and treatment of physical and mental illnesses is less costly than incarceration, shelter and hospital services for the untreated homeless.
10. Cities are increasingly making homelessness a crime
A 2014 survey of 187 cities by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty found: 24% make it a city-wide crime to beg in public; 33% make it illegal to stand around or loiter anyplace in the city; 18% make it a crime to sleep anywhere in public; 43% make it illegal to sleep in your car; and 53% make it illegal to sit or lay down in particular public places. And the number of cities criminalizing homelessness is steadily increasing.

For more information look to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, the National Center for Homeless Education and the National Coalition on the Homeless.
This article was adapted from this article by Bill Quigley, under a Creative Commons License.

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10 Facts About Being Homeless In The USA

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1. Over half a million people are homeless On any given night, there are over 600,000 homeless people in the US according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Most people are either spending the night in homeless shelters or in some sort of short-term transitional housing.

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We can donate money to charities that help homeless people. We can also help homeless people to find jobs that will help them get money to support themselves.

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Continue building more and more shelters. Also at the shelters have people there to help them get a job so they can make money to have a home of their own. The shelters will help the homeless people pick their feet up and make a living on their own.

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Option for the poor and vulnerable. We chose this social teaching because it says that we need to put the poor first, but do not separate them from the rest of society. We need to help the poor and homeless.

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PHOENIX - The number of homeless people not in shelters has increased by 27 percent in the past year, according to preliminary numbers released Wednesday by the Maricopa Association of Governments.

The numbers are from the annual Point-in-Time homeless count, which is conducted in accordance with federal regulations. Each January, volunteers take to the streets to speak to people experiencing homelessness and record such information as demographics, length of homelessness and health status.

According to the 2018 Point-in-Time homeless count, there are 2,618 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Phoenix - a 27 percent increase over 2017. Since 2014, the the number of homeless has increased 149 percent.

Anne Scott, a human services planner with the Maricopa Association of Governments, said the increase is concerning but not wholly surprising.

"People are seeing more folks on the street," Scott said. "That's what we're seeing in the community."

The official count won't be released until later in April. Once the official numbers are available, she said, specific programs will be tailored to help the sub-populations most in need of assistance.

Of the preliminary results, Scott said it was striking that "almost every community in Maricopa County is showing a pretty dramatic increase."

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Number of people experiencing homelessness climbs 27% in last year in Phoenix | Cronkite News

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PHOENIX - The number of homeless people not in shelters has increased by 27 percent in the past year, according to preliminary numbers released Wednesday by the Maricopa Association of Governments. The numbers are from the annual Point-in-Time homeless count, which is conducted in accordance with federal regulations.

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Homelessness Prevalence Us Map Homeless Featured, you can see Homelessness Prevalence Us Map Homeless Featured and Get Download Picture 51346 end more at Cdoovision.com.

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We think that we can help them and  supply them with the things that they need but the people have to want to thrive and have a good life style. We think that they need to also work as hard as they can to help themselves along with our help.

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Imagine how it would feel to be homeless #homeless #poem

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I wrote this poem eleven years ago. Sad to think that so little has changed for many of the homeless and dispossessed people of our world.

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Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?