Homeless.

**Working within the wonderful world of psychiatry, I've come across literally hundreds of amazing people with awesome stories who happen to be homeless with no options may I add. This population usually stays under the radar & are considered the unforgotten. 

Here's a series of eye opening facts pertaining 2 the homeless & Another2fingers production of my own personal interpretation of this widespread problem. 

*Remember: The more you know, the more you grow...right?;)

Fact 1: Over half a million people are homeless. On any given night, there are over 600,000 homeless people in the U.S., according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

Fact 2: One quarter of homeless people are children. HUD reports that on any given night, over 138,000 of the homeless in the U.S. are children under the age of 18. Thousands of these homeless children are unaccompanied, according to HUD. 

Fact 3: Tens of thousands of veterans are homeless. Over 57,000 veterans are homeless each night, according to HUD. Sixty percent of them are in shelters, the rest unsheltered. 

Fact 4: Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness among women. More than 90 percent of homeless women are victims of severe physical or sexual abuse, and escaping that abuse is a leading cause of their homelessness. 


Homeless. from The Weddington Adventures. on Vimeo.

Fact 5: Many people are homeless because they cannot afford rent. The lack of affordable housing is a primary cause of homelessness. HUD has seen its budget slashed by over 50 percent in recent decades, resulting in the loss of 10,000 units of subsidized low-income housing each and every year.

Fact 6: There are fewer places for poor people to rent than before.  One eighth of the nation’s supply of low-income housing has been permanently lost since 2001. The U.S. needs at least 7 million more affordable apartments for low-income families, and as a result, millions of families spend more than half of their monthly income on rent.

Fact 7: In the last few years millions have lost their homes. Over 5 million homes have been foreclosed on since 2008; that’s one out of every 10 homes with a mortgage. 

Fact 9: One in five homeless people suffers from untreated severe mental illness. While about 6 percent of the general population suffers from severe mental illness, 20 to 25 percent of the homeless suffer from severe mental illness, 

Fact 10: Cities are increasingly making homelessness a crime. 24 percent of Major cities make it a city-wide crime to beg in public, 33 percent make it illegal to stand around or loiter anyplace in the city, 18 percent make it a crime to sleep anywhere in public, 43 percent make it illegal to sleep in your car, and 53 percent make it illegal to sit or lie down in particular public places. And the number of cities criminalizing homelessness is steadily increasing. 

For more information, look to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, whose publications were very helpful with this piece, as well as the National Center for Homeless Education and the National Coalition on the Homeless.