Speakers and Statistics

Today my students met with a few members of the Faces of Homelessness Speakers Bureau. This organization is a part of the National Coalition for the Homeless and their goal is to promote awareness about the issue of homelessness. The speakers and the coordinators of the organization came to our class for lunch, presentations, and some discussion. My students were great hosts and welcomed the individuals to our classroom with gravitas and maturity. We broke in to groups and the students were able to spend some one on one time with the speakers. The experience was great and I am so thankful for the participants. My students will be writing about their experiences with the speakers and with their project over the next three weeks! - Prof. Greco

Some Statistics on Homelessness

General Statistics

• 3.5 million people are homeless every year in our country
• On a daily basis just over 671,000 people are experiencing homelessness
• In 2009 the National Alliance to End Homelessness predicted that there would be an additional 1.5 million people homeless over the next two years
• In 2009 37 million people lived below the poverty line

Families:

·      Families make up the largest group – accounting for 41% of all homelessness

·      85,000 families experience homelessness each night

·      1 in 50 children will experience homelessness in America each year this is approximately 1.5 million children each year.

·      42% of all homeless children are under the age of 6

·      As of march 2009 Massachusetts accounted for 17,505 homeless children

·      Of these 17,505 children 13,090 were enrolled in public schools

·      35% of all emergency assistance families are placed in motels/hotels

Veterans:

·      Veterans make up 20% of the homeless population

·      Over 110,000 veterans are homeless every night

·      Approximately 500,000 veterans are homeless every year in America

·      1 in 4 adult males who are homeless have served our country at one time

Top Five Leading Causes

1. Lack of Affordable Housing ·  In 2009 the rent in Boston was found to be 85% higher than the national average

2. Lack of a livable wage · An employee working minimum wage would have to work 89 hours in one week to afford a two bedroom apartment

3. Domestic Violence (DV)

·      1 in 4 women will be victims of DV in their lifetime

·      50% of all families experiencing homelessness are fleeing a DV situation

·      25% of all homeless children have witnessed some physical abuse

4. Lack of Affordable Healthcare · 1 in 3 Americans do NOT have healthcare

5. Natural Disasters