Gov't estimates 754,000 homeless people

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JLMACN

JLMACN

JLMACN
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Aug 26, 2002
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By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer
Wed Feb 28, 1:48 AM ET



WASHINGTON - The nation has three-quarters of a million homeless people, filling emergency shelters through the year and spilling into special seasonal shelters in the coldest months, the government said Wednesday.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated there were 754,000 homeless people in 2005, including those living in shelters, transitional housing and on the street. That's about 300,000 more people than available beds in shelters and transitional housing.

The report is the government's latest attempt to count people who are notoriously difficult to track. The estimate is similar to one by an advocacy group in January.

The 2000 Census pegged the number of homeless people at 170,700, but it was widely considered an undercount. In 1996, the Urban Institute used data collected by the Census Bureau to estimate there were between 640,000 and 840,000.

Housing officials hope the new report will serve as a starting point to more accurately measure changes in the homeless population.

"Understanding homelessness is a necessary step to ending it, especially for those persons living with a chronic condition such as mental illness, an addiction, or a physical disability," HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson wrote in the report.

HUD developed the estimate using data collected by local agencies that serve the homeless. Agencies across the country tried to count the number of people living on the street one night in January 2005. The agencies also collected information about race, gender, and disability status from people staying in emergency shelters and transitional housing from February to April 2005.

Among the findings for people in shelters and transitional housing:

_Nearly half were single adult men.

_Nearly a quarter were minors.

_Less than 2 percent were older than 65.

_About 59 percent were members of minority groups.

_About 45 percent were black.

_About a quarter had a disability, though experts said the percentage is probably much higher.

The Urban Institute recently did a study on homeless people in Santa Monica, Calif., and found only 6 percent of those using services for the homeless did not have a mental illness or a substance abuse problem, said Martha Burt, a researcher at the institute.

Emergency shelters are more than 90 percent full on average nights, the report said. They would be over capacity if not for seasonal shelters.

By comparison, less than three-quarters of transitional housing units for families are occupied on an average night.

HUD has been shifting resources from emergency shelters to transitional and permanent housing for years. The number of emergency shelter beds dropped by 35 percent from 1996 to 2005, to 217,900.

Meanwhile, the number of transitional housing beds increased by 38 percent during the same period, to 220,400. The number of beds in permanent supported housing increased by 83 percent, to 208,700.

"We ought to be looking for ways to move people from shelters into permanent housing," said Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

"Building shelter beds doesn't result in these people being housed," Roman said. "But clearly, short of housing, everybody should have a roof over their head. This points out that we are not there, either."

___

On The Net:

Department of Housing and Urban Development: http://www.hud.gov/

National Alliance to End Homelessness: http://www.endhomelessness.org/
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DISCUSS..........

5000
 
nhojsmith

nhojsmith

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#5
Dec 8, 2005
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#5
whats the big deal. you cant escape classism or the relative hierarchy that makes up a population. a thousand years ago these homeless people would already be dead or starving and soon dead (like the homeless people in other countrys).
 
nhojsmith

nhojsmith

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Dec 8, 2005
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Mike Manson said:
? Please explain!
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social services, welfare, government aid etc however miniscule, it still all trickles down. lets say there are 10 people on the planet and 11 apples. everyone needs an apple to live. Well a thousand, or however manty years ago when such methods of redstributing wealth didnt exist, you would have 5 people owning all the apples, and five people dead because they have none. in comes social services, they take a little bit of each mans apple, or maybe a whoel apple if someone has too much, and gives it to the guy who had none before, voila, everybody lives.

there are more homeless people because population is increasing, and because they have more resources than they had historically. bums who used to freeze in the winter, now live in the winter wearing doanted jackets and staying in the shelter the church built. the bums who used to starve to death now eat cambells soup. the ones who died from TB or what have you, now have vaccines as children.

on the surface level it seems right to redistribute wealth. but the people on the bottom will still be on bottom cause its all relative, so what is an appropriate minimum level you want all people to llive at? if everyone owned at least one house, the people who only owned one would be considered the bums.
 
P

phil

Sicc OG
#9
Apr 25, 2002
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#9
im sure its gotta be somebodys fault besides the people who are actually homeless. aside from the kids and the elderly/disabled i could give a fuck about the rest of em.
 
C

CHILEMACHO

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#10
Feb 14, 2007
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skid row in downtown L.A...shits crazy,blocks and blocks of nothing but homeless people..shits sad.but from what i've seen,most of them suffer from either mental illnes or drug addiction.
 
Mike Manson

Mike Manson

Still Livin'
#11
Apr 16, 2005
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#11
nhojsmith said:
social services, welfare, government aid etc however miniscule, it still all trickles down. lets say there are 10 people on the planet and 11 apples. everyone needs an apple to live. Well a thousand, or however manty years ago when such methods of redstributing wealth didnt exist, you would have 5 people owning all the apples, and five people dead because they have none. in comes social services, they take a little bit of each mans apple, or maybe a whoel apple if someone has too much, and gives it to the guy who had none before, voila, everybody lives.

there are more homeless people because population is increasing, and because they have more resources than they had historically. bums who used to freeze in the winter, now live in the winter wearing doanted jackets and staying in the shelter the church built. the bums who used to starve to death now eat cambells soup. the ones who died from TB or what have you, now have vaccines as children.

on the surface level it seems right to redistribute wealth. but the people on the bottom will still be on bottom cause its all relative, so what is an appropriate minimum level you want all people to llive at? if everyone owned at least one house, the people who only owned one would be considered the bums.
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I was just wondering why you think that in other countries would the homeless people die, but not in the States...?
 
bigdayne

bigdayne

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#12
Feb 27, 2007
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what would be cool is if the american government would care more about th people we have in american rather than in iraq. worry about the war on poverty, inner-city violence, war on drugs and fixing our own corrupt system rather that pissing off the world. one day the world is gonna turn on us for our hypocracy. we are the modern day imperialist power. the only people who dont recognize this is the common american redneck.
 
MRTHECOSE

MRTHECOSE

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#13
Oct 30, 2002
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CHILEMACHO said:
skid row in downtown L.A...shits crazy,blocks and blocks of nothing but homeless people..shits sad.but from what i've seen,most of them suffer from either mental illnes or drug addiction.
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skid row is that the actually street name.. i always hear it but dont know
 
nhojsmith

nhojsmith

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#16
Dec 8, 2005
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#16
Mike Manson said:
I was just wondering why you think that in other countries would the homeless people die, but not in the States...?
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im just referring to countries who have less social support than our own. and its not exactly like they would just sit there and die and do nothing, lol, but more likely commit crime or acquire resources in some other way. our bums have it not so bad, that was my point. i have friends with homeless relatives who tell me they are quite content. this is anecdotal, but you see what im getting at.
 
Mike Manson

Mike Manson

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#17
Apr 16, 2005
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#17
Well, I see some homeless people here in China, not as many as in the States or Europe, but still, and they don't get shit and still survive. They can survive on 1 or 2 bucks a day, no problem. And to get that kinda money from begging is easy with all the rich mufuckas runnin around...

I'm not too familiar with the social support in the States, but for example in Germany, the government will give you an apartment and pay for it + buy furniture, clothes, tv, etc. There are still homeless peeps out there (mostly drunks and druggies) who can't get their shit together...

From what I heard are in the States also alotta people, who just can't afford a home anymore...right?
 
nhojsmith

nhojsmith

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#19
Dec 8, 2005
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#19
Mike Manson said:
Well, I see some homeless people here in China, not as many as in the States or Europe, but still, and they don't get shit and still survive. They can survive on 1 or 2 bucks a day, no problem. And to get that kinda money from begging is easy with all the rich mufuckas runnin around...

I'm not too familiar with the social support in the States, but for example in Germany, the government will give you an apartment and pay for it + buy furniture, clothes, tv, etc. There are still homeless peeps out there (mostly drunks and druggies) who can't get their shit together...

From what I heard are in the States also alotta people, who just can't afford a home anymore...right?
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i dont know if its "just" one cause like home prices. im pretty sure its a variety of factors. but i guess at the root being homeless is an issue of not being able to afford a house lol. a lot of people got drug problems, a lot of vets, runaways etc. and yeah sure people find a way to survive but i suspect the life expectancy is lower for the bum folk.
 
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