JULY 30, 2007

POVERTY

The changing face of homelessness

People who work with the homeless say they’re seeing more families, more women and children, and more people who were knocked down by a job loss, divorce or domestic violence - or by jobs that paid too little and medical bills or housing that cost too much. They are also seeing more people who have jobs that pay minimum wage or less and can’t afford housing.

Shelters are teeming with veterans and teenagers, people struggling with mental illness and substance abuse, people who have been homeless for years, and new arrivals who never imagined they would be homeless.

The factors contributing to homelessness are complicated, but so is the public response to it. Some cities, fed up by complaints about panhandling and loitering, are passing ordinances that restrict where charitable groups can feed and aid the homeless. Some, disturbed by violent attacks on the homeless, are trying to add protections to hate-crime legislation.

Religious groups are a primary source of food and shelter for homeless people. But now more religious groups are turning their attention to public advocacy on root causes of homelessness – issues such as access to affordable housing and mental health services. In other words, rather than working to “catch the falling families,” as one researcher put it, they’re pushing lawmakers to change policies so people are less likely to fall.

Why it matters

Most religious traditions teach the importance of caring for the least and the lost. The suffering of men, women and children who have no place to live presents significant questions of public policy – for the schools that must educate homeless children, for the military, for health care institutions, for determining what’s fair in setting wages and housing policy, and much more.

Jump to:
Angles for reporters
National sources
  Government
  Organizations
  Individuals
Legislation
Background
  Data & research
  Articles

Angles for reporters
• Many advocates for the homeless say the population is changing. They’re seeing more women and children, and sometimes teenagers on their own. How are service providers – and public policy efforts – responding to this changing population?
• Twenty years ago, in July 1987, Congress passed the The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (now known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act). It was the first coordinated federal response to homelessness; see a Web site about the act from 28 advocacy organizations that are pushing for Congress to reauthorize the act this year.
• Some people of faith are getting involved not just in providing direct services – giving food and warm clothing to the homeless, offering shelter – but also in public policy advocacy, trying to influence legislation involving affordable housing and the payment of a living wage, for example. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is helping day laborers trying to improve working conditions and wages. Read a Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News story posted by Beliefnet about a Florida group, Concerned Clergy for Compassion, that opposes a city ordinance that blocks the feeding of the homeless in Orlando’s downtown parks.
• Some faith communities are making outreach to the homeless a direct part of their ministry – look around for examples of creativity.
• St. Boniface Catholic Church in San Francisco has allowed people to sleep in its pews on weekdays – read a March 27, 2005, story from the San Francisco Chronicle.
• The Church of the Homeless in Washington, D.C., holds a daily Bible study in Union Station.
• In Northern Virginia, a coalition of churches created the Hypothermia Response Program, taking turns opening their doors when the weather got cold to try to make sure homeless people didn’t freeze to death. Read a Dec. 7, 2006, story from The Washington Post.
• Some homeless people refuse to stay in shelters because they consider them unclean, unsafe, too crowded or too restrictive. Find out what conditions are like in your community. And sometimes congregations get involved in trying to minister to those outside the shelter system – cruising known sleeping spots with warm blankets, for example, when the weather gets particularly frigid.
• In 2002, a federal judge in New York ruled that Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church could allow homeless people to sleep on its steps, but not the sidewalk. City police had tried repeatedly to remove the homeless sleepers, but Fifth Avenue church argued that helping the homeless who didn’t want to come inside was an expression of religious belief. Read the transcript of a March 29, 2002, piece from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly.
• Talk to local librarians. In many cities, homeless people pack the libraries each morning after shelters close their doors. On TomDispatch.com, read an essay by Chip Ward, a former assistant director of the Salt Lake City library system, describing how librarians are learning to cope with medical emergencies, body odor, patrons who hear voices, and their growing recognition that the homeless need help they cannot provide.
• Find out how shelters are dealing with concerns about sexual orientation. Some studies estimate that as many as one in five homeless youth may be gay or lesbian, and some teenagers leave home because of conflicts over their sexuality.
• Read a July 11, 2007, blog from Chicago Tribune religion reporter Manya Brachear about a lesbian who accused a homeless shelter of discriminating against her on the basis of sexual orientation.
• Read a May 17, 2007, story from The New York Times about specialized shelters for gay and lesbian teenagers.

Click the map for interview sources in your state and region

National sources

GOVERNMENT
• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offers resources both for those who are homeless and for those wanting to provide assistance. The HUD newsroom provides links to state-by-state information on housing issues and contact information for HUD field offices.
• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offers programs to support homeless veterans, from dental care to group homes. The department’s Web site lists the homeless veteran program coordinators for each state.
• The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives assists faith-based and community groups from around the country working to help people in need. The office’s Web site includes listings of government programs related to homelessness.
• The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness was created in 1987 with the mission of forming a comprehensive plan for ending homelessness.

ORGANIZATIONS
• The National Coalition for the Homeless is a network of advocates working to end homelessness. Its board includes some people who are currently homeless or previously have been. The organization launched the Bringing America Home campaign, urging Congress to support legislation supporting affordable housing and access to health care, education and a living wage. Contact acting executive director Michael Stoops, 202-462-4822, mstoops@nationalhomeless.org. The coalition’s Web site also includes links to lists of advocacy coalitions in each state on issues involving homelessness and housing.
• The National Alliance on Mental Illness, based in Arlington, Va., works on public policy issues affecting the mentally ill, including access to affordable housing. The organization’s Web site includes links to local and state affiliates and advice to family members on assisting mentally ill loved ones who may have become homeless. Contact Alexis O’Brien, media relations associate, 703-524-7600, AlexisO@nami.org.
• The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., provides legal support in the effort to end homelessness. Read testimony that executive director Maria Foscarinis gave on June 7, 2007, on homelessness to the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights. Contact Foscarinis at 202-638-2535, mfoscarinis@nlchp.org.
• The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans is a nonprofit group, based in Washington, D.C. The coalition represents more than 250 providers of support services and transitional housing around the country. Its Web site includes a listing of facts for the media on issues such as why veterans are homeless and how many homeless veterans there are. Contact the coalition’s president and CEO, Cheryl Beversdorf, 202-546-1969, nchv1@nchv.org.
• The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth works to make sure that children without a home have access to education. Contact policy director Barbara Duffield, 202-364-7392, bduffield@naehcy.org.
• The National Center on Family Homelessness, based in Newton Centre, Mass., is dedicated to helping homeless families. Contact Cheryl Cordima, 617-964-3834 ext. 22, Cheryl.cordima@familyhomelessness.org.
• The Institute of Homeless Studies at Camillus House, based in Miami, lists resources on homelessness and housing issues. Contact director Karen Mahar, 305-374-1065 ext. 301, info@instituteofhomelessstudies.org.
• Family Promise helps low-income families achieve independence. Interfaith Hospitality Networks, in which 10 or more congregations partner to provide food, shelter and social services to the homeless, exist in most states; see a list with links. Contact founder and president Karen Olson in Summit, N.J., 908-273-1100.

INDIVIDUALS
• Frank Alexander is a law professor at Emory University school of law and founding director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion. He is an expert on homelessness and housing policy. Contact 404-727-6982, falexander@law.emory.edu.
• Richard Axtell is an associate professor of religion and college chaplain at Centre College in Danville, Ky. In his teaching and ministry, he invites students to learn about hunger and homelessness and has had his students sleep in homeless shelters. Contact 859-238-5342, rick.axtell@centre.edu.
• Martha Burt is principal research associate in the Center on Labor, Human Services and Population at the Urban Institute. Homelessness and housing are among her areas of expertise. She gave testimony about homeless youth to a congressional committee on June 19, 2007. Contact through the office of public affairs, 202-261-5709, paffairs@ui.urban.org.
• Ram A. Cnaan is a leading expert on faith-based social services. Cnaan is a professor, the associate dean for research, and chairman of the doctoral program in social welfare at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also director of the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research and co-author of The Invisible Caring Hand: American Congregations and the Provision of Welfare. Contact 215-898-5523, cnaan@sp2.upenn.edu.
• Pamela D. Couture is vice president for academic affairs and dean of St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo., and author of Child Poverty: Love, Justice and Social Responsibility and Seeing Children, Seeing God: A Practical Theology of Children and Poverty. Contact 816-245-4828.
• Dennis Culhane, professor of social welfare policy at the University of Pennsylvania, studies homelessness and housing policy. Contact 215-349-8705, culhane@mail.med.upenn.edu.
• Benedict Giamo is associate professor of American studies at the University of Notre Dame. He is the co-author of Beyond Homelessness: Frames of Reference (with Jeffrey Grunberg); and author of On the Bowery: Confronting Homelessness in American Society. Contact 574-631-7316, giamo.1@nd.edu.
• Michael Herkov, a psychology professor at the University of North Florida, sued the city of Jacksonville after he received a ticket for feeding the homeless on church property; he is trying to get the law changed. Read a Feb. 20, 2007, News4Jax.com article. Contact 904-620-1613, mherkov@unf.edu.
• David Snow is a sociology professor at the University of California at Irvine. Contact 949-824-9323, dsnow@uci.edu.
• Yvonne M. Vissing is a sociology professor at Salem State College in Salem, Mass., and author of the book Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Homeless Children and Families in Small-Town America, as well as numerous articles on homeless youth. Contact 603-868-6449, yvonne.vissing@salemstate.edu.

Legislation

FEDERAL
• Twenty years ago, in July 1987, Congress passed the the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (now known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act). It was the first coordinated federal response to homelessness; see a Web site about the act from 28 advocacy organizations that are pushing for Congress to reauthorize the act this year.

STATE AND LOCAL
• Some U.S. cities, including Dallas, Las Vegas, Fort Myers and Orlando, have passed ordinances that prohibit or restrict charitable organizations and groups from operating feeding programs for the homeless.
• Orlando, for example, passed an ordinance in July 2006 prohibiting charitable groups from feeding large groups of people in downtown parks without a permit. Proponents of the legislation said business owners and residents had complained that the homeless were causing problems in the parks. Read a Feb. 3, 2007, Associated Press story, published in The Washington Post, describing ordinances Orlando and other cities are passing to respond to concerns about a growing public presence of the homeless.
• Read the transcript of a June 1, 2007, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly story about a Las Vegas ordinance that prohibits feeding the homeless in public parks. It’s posted by The Roundtable on Religion & Social Welfare Policy.
• A January 2006 report from the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty describes “the criminalization of homelessness,” reporting that many cities are cracking down on such things as sleeping in public or panhandling.
• Responding to reports of attacks on homeless people, some states are considering adding violence against the homeless to state hate crime legislation. A 2006 study from the National Coalition for the Homeless reported 614 violent attacks against homeless people in the previous eight years – some of them fatal. See a March 26, 2007, report on proposed legislation from Stateline.org.

Background

DATA & RESEARCH
• Accurate statistics on how many people are homeless can be hard to come by – estimates vary considerably.
• The National Alliance to End Homelessness – in what it says is the first national estimate of the homeless population in a decade – said in a January 2007 report that 744,313 people were homeless on a single night in January 2005. Of those, 56 percent were living in shelters; 44 percent were not. About 6 in 10 were single adults; 4 in 10 were in families. Close to a quarter – 23 percent – were considered chronically homeless.
• Read an interview with Martha Burt, principal research associate in the Urban Institute’s Center on Labor, Human Services and Population. She describes two national studies, from 1987 and 1996, that give national estimates on the number of homeless.
• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that nearly 200,000 veterans are homeless on a given night, nearly all of them men, and that in a given year 400,000 veterans will be homeless.
• Another group to consider is what the National Coalition for the Homeless describes as “couch-homeless” – people who are staying with friends or relatives because they don’t have a place to live. Some estimate that 1 to 2 percent of the U.S. population fits this category – perhaps 4.7 million people. Read a report on the couch homeless from the coalition. See estimates of the couch homeless population by county.
• Some local statistics are available. Read, for example, statistics on the homeless population in Chicago and New York. Check with community advocates for the homeless to see what local reports exist.

ARTICLES
• Read a May 17, 2007, account from 60 Minutes about the practice of some Los Angles hospitals discharging homeless patients to Skid Row.
• Read an Oct. 10, 2006, story from the Islamic Relief USA Web site about Muslim Humanitarian Day, an effort to serve homeless people in 14 cities on one day during Ramadan.
• Read a Jan. 14, 2006, story from The Associated Press, published in The Decatur Daily, about a group of Muslim and Jewish girls in New Jersey working together to raise money to create a shelter for homeless families.
• Read a Feb. 6, 2004, story from the San Francisco Chronicle about the Homeless Church in San Francisco.