Resource Library: Homelessness

Homelessness  |  Affordable Housing  |  Community Development

Social Issues Related to Homelessness

• Compassion, Concern and Conflicted Feelings: New Yorkers on Homelessness and Housing
  Public Agenda
  According to this 2007 study of New York City residents, 72 percent agree that as long as there are Americans who are homeless, the U.S. has failed to live up to its ideals. Also, the study found that 1 in 3 fear becoming homeless themselves. Also, 67 percent say most homeless people are homeless because of circumstances beyond their control; 90 percent agree that everyone has a basic right to shelter; and 85 percent approve of having their tax dollars pay for housing for the homeless.
  
  
• Foreclosure to Homelessness 2009: The Forgotten Victims of the Subprime Crisis
  National Coalition for the Homeless et al.
  This report discusses the plight faced by a growing number of renters and homeowners who have been caught in the foreclosure crisis and became homeless after exhausting their resources.
  
  
• Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes And Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness, 2007
  National Coalition for the Homeless
  The National Coalition for the Homeless has been tracking reports of violence against people experiencing homelessness since 1999. The recently released 2007 report, Hate Violence and Death on Main Street USA, has found that 160 persons were violently attacked in 2007, 28 of whom died as a result. Since 2006, the number of attacks and the number of attacks resulting in death rose by 13% and 40%, respectively. The report documents this violent trend and discusses proposed legislation to add homeless persons to hate crime policy.
  
  
• Homes Not Handcuffs 
  The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) and the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH)
  This 2009 report evaluated measures in almost 300 cities that criminalized homelessness and ranked the cities. Significantly, laws against loitering and camping increased 7% and 11%, respectively, from 2006-2008.
  
  
• How Housing Affects Child Well-Being
  Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities
  This paper examines how the characteristics of children’s homes affect their health, social, and emotional well-being and offers strategies for funders concerned with improving outcomes for children.
  
  
• Multiply Homeless Families: The Insidious Impact of Violence
  Fannie Mae Foundation
  This article describes the duration of family homelessness, compares the characteristics of mothers who had been homeless only once with those who had been homeless multiple times, and identifies factors that contribute to repeated episodes of family homelessness. Significantly, multiply homeless mothers had higher rates of childhood sexual abuse and stranger violence than their first - time homeless counterparts. Sexual molestation during childhood was also an important predictor of recidivism.
  
  
• Visit the Poverty section of the Community Development Resource Library for reports on related issues such as struggling families in Connecticut who do not qualify for government assistance, neighborhood gentrification, the wage gap between rich and poor in our state, and more.