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Why Are People Homeless?  

According to the National Coalition for the Homeless in a June 2007 report, two trends are largely responsible for the rise in homelessness over the past 20-25 years: a growing shortage of affordable rental housing and a simultaneous increase in poverty. Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education. Difficult choices must be made when limited resources cover only some of these necessitates. The National Allegiance to End Homelessness states that there are four other primary causes of homelessness: Mental illness or the lack of needed services, substance abuse and lack of needed services, low-paying jobs, government policy such as child support enforcement keeping drivers licenses from citizens and other civil rights violations. The minor causes cited by the mayors were: Prisoner release, unemployment, domestic violence.

Associated Press reported that "Not only did family homelessness continue to increase ... it also seems to have become more severe in the sense that it took the typical family longer to leave shelter," the report said. Overall, 1.56 million people spent at least one night in emergency shelters or transitional housing, the report said. One-third of those individuals were part of a homeless family.

Often it is housing, which absorbs a high proportion of income that must be dropped. Being poor means having an illness, being in an accident, or a paycheck away from living on the streets. In 2005, 13.3% of the U.S. population, or 38,231,521 million people, lived in poverty. Both the poverty rate and the number of poor people have increased in recent years, up from 12.5% or 1.1 million in 2003 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2005). Another frightful statistic is that 36% of persons living in poverty are children; in fact, the 2004 poverty rate of 17.6% for children under 18 years old is significantly higher than the poverty rate for any other age group.  

The Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development recently released a supplemental report to the 2009 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress on veterans. The supplement estimated that 107,000 veterans experience homelessness on any given night.    

Help Bring about change, Volunteer.   

Cornerstone Ministries Emergency Shelter for the Homeless is currently looking for someone like you to be a volunteer. If you have a caring heart and a few free hours, please give us a call at 740-374-5381. There are many ways in which you can help, and nobody is too young or too old. The homeless have many needs, and they can only be solved if we work together.

How can you help bring about change? We can only continue to help because of the involvement from members of our community. Here are some of the ways you can help make a difference in someone’s life:

• Becoming a Volunteer
• Mentoring a Child or Adult
• Making Donations
• Adopting a Project
• Clean-up/Painting Parties
• Sponsoring a Fundraiser

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 For a quicker response email us at cornestone77@suddenlink.net or call 740-374-5381. If no answer leave your contact information on the voice mail. Your information will NOT be added to a calling or mailing list.

 

 

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Last modified: May 16, 2011