According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, it means the “lack of a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” A homeless person may have temporary shelter, living in transitional housing or an emergency shelter, or be unsheltered, living in a park, on the street, or in a car. People may be homeless temporarily or long-term.
How common is homelessness?
It is hard to measure exactly how many people currently experience homelessness in the world. Most estimates put the worldwide number of homeless people at over 150 million, and the number of people lacking adequate or appropriate long-term housing at approximately 1.6 billion – almost one out of every five people.
Data published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2023 shows that the United States as having the sixth highest rate of homelessness among member countries, but tied for the highest rate of people “living rough” (i.e., staying in public spaces, rather than formal shelters or temporary housing), due to a lack of public support for housing. This represented approximately 680,000 people, with about 40% of those people living rough at any given time, in the U.S.
The Summer 2024 point-in-time study, an effort that attempts to determine the number of homeless people in an area, identified just under 10,000 homeless people in the DC metro region. Fortunately, this was a slight decrease from the previous year after several years of rising numbers.
What causes homelessness?
Knowing the causes of homelessness is important for helping people who are homeless. Homeless Hub in Canada has developed a useful guide to some of the most important causes of homelessness, including:
Laws currently outlaw rental discrimination in the United States. However, historical and institutional inequalities remain. People are routinely removed from their housing for reasons that disproportionately target certain groups. According to a 2018 report from National Alliance to End Homelessness, African Americans “make up more than 40% of the homeless population, but represent 13 percent of the general population.”
Health care is an expensive privilege, not a right, in the United States. Therefore, health problems can make financial issues worse, putting strain on the ability to afford a residence. This challenge is apparent in the data on homelessness:
Housing First: Providing people with housing, and support services to keep their housing, to do everything possible to keep them from becoming homeless again.
Rapid Re-Housing/Affordable Housing: Helping individuals quickly “exit homelessness and return to permanent housing” while also being affordable even to those living in deep poverty.
Healthcare: Providing healthcare to heal people and households, allowing them to become self-sufficient.
Career Pathways: Access to job training and employment is valuable for people who lack stable housing due to a lack of income.
Schools: Welcoming and effective schooling can provide the structure and support needed to make children feel part of a community and have sources of help as they become adults and need to find housing.
At the local level, any effort to help homeless people obtain resources and supplies is valuable toward reducing suffering – that is what AHHDC does.
