Drupal

The face of homelessness is changing. In recent years, the homeless population has shifted from the homeless mother with several children to the two-parent family with one to three children. We are also seeing a large growth of single fathers with children and grandparents with grandchildren.  In most cases, parents are working, but their earned income is not sufficient to meet their cost of living. Workforce housing is scarce in our community and many families are living from paycheck to paycheck.  It takes only one small incident to tip the balance from scraping by to homelessness. (All names below have been changed.)

One rent increase:  Alice had been renting the same house for four years when her landlord decided to sell it. She was thrilled when the new owner offered to let her continue to live in the house, but the new rent was higher than she could afford.  She did not have enough to cover the first month’s rent or the deposits needed to relocate.

One car breakdown: Carole was parked on the street when a teen who was talking on a cell phone while driving ran into her 1991 vehicle and totaled it.   Carole only had collision insurance and the other driver's insurance company valued her car at $500.  Carole was willing to walk to work, but was no longer able to take her children to daycare.  While trying to figure out what to do, she missed too many days of work to keep her job.

One conviction:  When police stopped Eric’s car, they discovered drugs and drug paraphernalia. Convictions led to two years of lockup.  Upon release, he was faced with finding a job with a company that would hire felons, regaining custody of his children and finding a place to live.

One caregiver responsibility:  Paula was living on an SSI fixed income with her son when her mother had a heart attack.  Having to make many trips to the hospital caused her to spend rent money on gas.  When her mother was released from the hospital, Paula had to be the caregiver.  She had to have gas money for doctor’s appointments and running her mother's errands.  Her landlord tried to work with her for four months, but she was unable to catch up.

One bad relationship:  John lived with his wife and three children.  One day, his wife abandoned the family.  After 3 months, the landlord notified him that his name was not on the lease so he would have to move.

One too many drinks:  Kyle was stopped by the police and given a breathalyzer test.  His results were .09.  While this was not far above the legal limit of .08, he had his daughter in the car with him and was also charged with child endangerment.  He was sentenced to 8 months lockup, leaving his daughter, two sons and a pregnant wife without enough income to maintain housing.

One tour of duty:  Mike was a single dad with a teen daughter who had an infant.  His call to a tour of duty left his daughter and her child homeless.

One poor life decision:  Gina decided she loved a mentally-ill man and married him against the advice of her friends and family.  He had steady employment and they soon had a baby daughter and were very happy. They were so happy that he decided he was well and did not need to continue taking medication.  He began to abuse Gina.  He lost his job and Gina began getting phone calls from various police stations to come get her husband.  Calls to his family were useless and they told her that he was her problem now.

One substandard house:  Rita and her husband were both working and living in a house they could afford to rent.  A concerned person called Child Protective Services to describe the dwelling.  When Social Services inspected the house, they found it unacceptable for children  and told the parents to move or their children would be removed from the home.

The cause of homelessness is poverty and one in eight Americans is living at or below the poverty level.  Thirty-four per cent of the homeless population is children. To find out how you can help, please read “9 Ways You Can Help to Prevent Homelessness.”