| As many as 3.5 million Americans are homeless each | | | | onto the street. Today, the rapid, unexpected loss of |
| year. Of these, more than 1 million are children and on | | | | jobs and resultant foreclosures has caused great |
| any given night, more than 300,000 children are | | | | dislocation among families and has dramatically added |
| homeless. | | | | to the number of people without a roof over their |
| While the general impression is that the homeless are | | | | heads. |
| primarily the chronic and episodic, those unfortunate | | | | Natural disasters often cause current housing situations |
| individuals often seen living on the streets in the | | | | to become untenable and costly repairs are often |
| downtown areas of our cities, the fact is that more | | | | simply not possible. The results of Hurricane Katrina |
| than half the homeless are families with children. The | | | | stand in bleak testimony to the power of nature to |
| vast majority of these have been thrust into | | | | displace people. |
| homelessness by a life altering event or series of | | | | The great challenge for the newly homeless is to |
| events that were unexpected and unplanned for. | | | | figure out how to return to their normal lives. |
| Contrary to the belief that homelessness is primarily | | | | Organizations that build emergency shelters and |
| the result of major traumatic events or physical and | | | | transitional housing typically work with a larger number |
| mental disabilities, there are many top causes of | | | | of service providers around the country whose |
| homelessness in America. | | | | mission is to provide the services, such as job training, |
| Homelessness is, in fact, caused by tragic life | | | | social skills training, and financial training, that enable |
| occurrences like the loss of loved ones, job loss, | | | | these people to regain employment and return to |
| domestic violence, divorce and family disputes. Other | | | | mainstream lives. The progression for these recently |
| impairments such as depression, untreated mental | | | | homeless is to first be housed in transitional residences |
| illness, post traumatic stress disorder, and physical | | | | where they can learn these skills, to graduate to |
| disabilities are also responsible for a large portion of | | | | assisted living in affordable housing while they build up |
| the homeless. Many factors push people into living on | | | | economic reserves and rebuild their employment |
| the street. Acknowledging these can help facilitate the | | | | resume, and then to graduate to full, market rate |
| end of homelessness in America. | | | | housing. |
| For those living in poverty or close to the poverty line, | | | | Many of these service provider partners are |
| an "everyday" life issue that may be manageable for | | | | household names, such as Volunteers of America, |
| individuals with a higher income can be the final factor | | | | Rescue Missions, and the Salvation Army. Many |
| in placing them on the street. A broken down vehicle, a | | | | others are local organizations formed to address |
| lack of vehicle insurance, or even unpaid tickets might | | | | specific homelessness issues in the community. By |
| be just enough to render someone homeless. | | | | carefully vetting the qualifications and financial stability |
| Divorce costs and the associated lowering of a | | | | of these service providers, organizations that build |
| family's total income can cause one or more family | | | | emergency shelters and transitional housing are able to |
| members to become homeless. For families that can | | | | assure that their facilities are effectively utilized in the |
| hardly pay their bills, a serious illness or disabling | | | | fight to end homelessness. |
| accident may deplete their funds and push them out | | | | |