Suburban, Rural Homelessness Jumps in 2008

Published July 10, 2009 @ 05:54AM PT

The national homelessness figures are out, and the numbers aren't pretty.

The number of homeless families in suburban areas increased by 56% in 2008, while the number of homeless families in rural areas increased by 34%. This is according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's "2008 Annual Homeless Assessment Report" released to Congress today.

Yet, despite these jumps in family homelessness, the broader picture of overall homelessness remained relatively stable, according to CNN:

The spike in suburban and rural communities, areas that have been especially hard hit by the housing meltdown, "begs many questions about how today's housing crisis and job losses are playing out in our shelters and on our streets," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan in a written statement.

Nationally, the number of families in need of a place to live increased by 9%, the report said.

Meanwhile, nationwide, the number of individuals without shelter dipped 1% in 2008 compared to 2007. On a single night in January 2008, about 664,000 people - counting those in shelter and those unsheltered - didn't have a home. That was 7,500 fewer than the previous year.

The Annual Homeless Assessment Report is dense with data, so this certainly will not be the last you hear of it here. But these significant increases in family homelessness in non-urban areas are tough to miss. And tough to swallow.

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Thanks for the posting.

Just as the rate of unemployment is expected to rise considerably so is the rate of homelessness. As changes are being made to handle the unemployment and foreclosure cicumstances stay tuned to hear conclusions about homelessness and the workings towards putting an end to this horrible situation.

Posted by Aaron Shaw on 07/10/2009 @ 07:37AM PT
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What is equally as disturbing is the feds' continued distortion of the definition of "homeless" that ignores a huge portion of homeless people--families and teens--who find themselves without a shelter to turn to, bouncing from couch to couch, motels to friends houses, or totally beyond the radar screen of HUD and the counters. Unenlightened people have fought to limit the definition as if we could wish homelessness away.

HUD has potential to improve from past administrations, and the release of stimulus dollars will help some families, but we need to revamp the abysmal approach to housing.

"We found that somewhere between 2.4 million and 10.5 million individuals are doubled up and living below the poverty line..." (Nan Roman, NAEH, in Senate testimony 6-07) makes me realize that if national advocates don't recognize this plight as homeless (which doesn't even include families in motels) then it's time for the Learning Curve Express to enlighten people.

Posted by HEAR US on 07/10/2009 @ 08:35AM PT
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Well said. This is the problem, well the sort of the problem, with obtaining most types of assistance and in getting most assistance programs to function properly to actually HELP those who need the assistance. We can't change definitions and presto-changeo people who are hungry are suddenly fed because the new word is something "food deficient" or something similarly stupid and it's just as absurd to pretend that someone quit being homeless because they've got a car or a friend's couch where they can sleep because those are NOT homes nor proper shelter (come to think of it, neither are many "homeless shelters" but that's for a thread all its own). It's time to drop the mind games and start admitting that the unemployed are unemployed despite the statistics games long played, that the hungry are hungry despite the changes in wording, that the homeless are homeless any time they're without a home (and that in many cases the "shelters" need a lot better standards to qualify as fit places to stay), that the poverty line only recognizes those by far the most desperate (and they're REALLY desperate - which means the real number is way off), etc. And all this adds up to some serious potential for not just policy issues and underfunding but maybe even human rights problems...

Posted by Danetta Amschler on 07/11/2009 @ 10:42PM PT
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As you note, the figures in the Homeless Assessment Report are for 2008. In fact, they cut off at the end of October 2008. So they're just early signs of the combined impacts of the economic and foreclosure crises. Moreover, many of the figures are only for homeless people who were in shelters or transitional housing. So we're not getting a complete picture.

That said, the report includes some other worrisome figures-and not only for families in rural and suburban communities. I've highlighted some of them on my blog at http://povertyandpolicy.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/homeless-report-shows-signs-of-recessions-impact.

As you'll see, I too am encouraged by the way that recovery act funds have been targeted. But I frankly doubt they'll be enough to do the job. Diane Nilan's got some telling figures on her invisible homeless kids blog, http://invisible-homeless-kids.blogspot.com/2009/07/make-up-for-lost-time.html.

Posted by Kathryn Baer on 07/12/2009 @ 01:45PM PT
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Shannon has worked in homeless shelters and service organizations in San Francisco, the Triangle region of North Carolina, and currently in the greater Boston area. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.