Why Do People experience Homelessness?
It is rare that a person would experience homelessness for only one reason. However, poverty is a common thread among nearly everyone who experiences homelessness. Whether the reason is situational (like outstanding medical expenses or a broken relationship) or generational (coming from a family who struggled with poverty or who has lived in an impoverished area for many years), falling below the poverty line makes a household vulnerable to experiencing homelessness. According to 2021 Census estimates, 37.9 million people nationwide are living in poverty, which represents a decrease from the 48.5 million in poverty in 2011. For the state of Ohio, the poverty rate is 13.4%. In Athens County, the poverty rate is 20.9% (The national poverty threshold is $29,678/year for a family of 4 with two adults and two children).
Another layer of difficulty is added when we take into account the real affordable housing shortage. The waiting list for low-income housing through Athens Metropolitan Housing changes each year but could range from 400 to 700 families at any given time, translating into a minimum wait of six months to two years. According to a report by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, at the end of 2022, 447,717 people living in Ohio qualified as extremely low-income renters, but there were only 177,318 qualifying homes available for them to rent. Additionally, in the Athens area, many of the rentals are student rentals, which decreases availability of low-income rentals for families.
As for employment, many people who experience homelessness are employed, but employment difficulties can certainly contribute to risk of homelessness. A 2021 study from the University of Chicago showed that 53 percent of those experiencing homelessness who were sheltered had formal employment that year, and 40.4 percent of those who were unsheltered were employed that year. Concerning employment in this region, the kind of extractive industry that we have had in Southeast Ohio (timber, iron, coal) only creates work as long as it is commercially viable to do so, then leaves the landscape diminished and the people in poverty. Absentee landownership results in the wealth that is gained from the sale of these resources not staying in this area. More and more jobs are low-paying service industry work. This job market pushes families into precarious financial situations.
These issues describe part of the landscape, but people who are personally experiencing homelessness and the people who are helping them know that homelessness is about so much more than housing. People often experience homelessness when their housing and economic issues collide with other crises such as broken relationships with family, domestic violence, physical or mental illness, addiction, transition into adulthood, and relational strains.
According to the fall 2022 HUD Continuum of Care report, victims of domestic violence make up 8.3% of the total number of people experiencing homelessness. Robbed of their own financial and emotional resources, people with violent partners sometimes must choose between being abused at home and becoming homeless. Those who leave with their children are survivors, but even in the safety of a shelter, rebuilding, gaining stability, and establishing a healthy network of relationships takes time.
According to the CDC, the number of Americans with no health insurance was 27.6 million in 2022. A major health crisis can be financially ruinous for anyone, and especially for those without insurance. While government programs exist to help people with chronic, disabling health problems, there is little help while a person goes through the long application process to get such assistance. People with disabilities that prevent them from working can apply for Social Security Disability Insurance. Once their application is submitted, the directions for applying say that they can expect to wait three to six months before receiving a decision. Additionally, most applications are denied initially, and the appeal process can take two years, leaving many people who qualify for help destitute (and sometimes without housing) in the interim.
About 21% of people who experience homelessness nationwide have a severe mental illness (Department of Housing and Urban Development). This compares to 5.5% of the country’s general population (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration). Mental illness often makes people who suffer from it unable to work. It can alienate them from their support systems and even damage their ability to accept needed help. People with severe mental illnesses who have subsidized housing sometimes have difficulty maintaining it through periods when they decompensate and need to go into the hospital.
By no means does every person experiencing homelessness struggle with substance abuse, but HUD reports that about 16% of people who experienced homelessness in 2022 struggled with chronic substance abuse. The problems that come from long-term substance abuse engulf a person’s entire life. Their habit is illegal and may lead to more illegal activity, meaning time in and out of jail. Substance abuse has a negative impact on a person’s ability to work and maintain relationships. It also causes chronic health problems and the spread of diseases like hepatitis. Southeast Ohio is currently experiencing an epidemic of substance abuse. “Overdoses surpassed car accidents in 2007 as the leading cause of accidental death in Ohio,” (Andrew Welsh-Huggins, AP article). According to the Ohio Department of Health, the rate of deaths caused by drug overdose continued to grow through 2021.
The transition from youth to adulthood is difficult for many people. For youth who have grown up in poverty, this transition can be particularly difficult. When a family lives in government housing and the youth becomes an adult they must leave the household, meaning that parents dependent on public housing do not have the option to offer their adult children help. Youth who have had to spend time in the foster care system are more likely to experience homelessness as adults (endhomelessness.org). Programs that provide support to children (like Medicaid) are cut off when the person reaches adulthood. Young people are often unprepared for the needs and difficult decisions they face at that age. When a young person’s family is in poverty, the transition is likely to be more difficult.
The myriad issues surrounding poverty and homelessness create major relational strains. People exhaust their personal relationships in the same way they exhaust their financial resources. By the time a person is living on the streets, camping, or staying in a shelter their relationships are damaged, adding loneliness to their other problems. A simple offer of friendship can be a meaningful starting place in helping a person to recover from experiencing homelessness. Entering a shelter, seeking mental health treatment, going to twelve step meetings, applying for help with housing—these can be daunting tasks. Walking with someone, believing in them, encouraging them, and listening can give them strength to address problems in other areas of their life.