- 70% of all homeless individuals are clean and sober. [ref.]
It is a common misconception that most homeless people are addicted to a substance. While there are a percentage of homeless individuals who are left helpless in the grips of addiction, a large majority of homeless people are not addicts.
- Families with children make up 40% of the U.S. homeless population. [ref.]
Many of these families are forced onto the street because of a lost job, or inability to pay rising housing costs.
- Lack of affordable housing is identified as a main cause of homelessness. [ref.]
It is very easy for those of us living in comfortable housing to judge those who have no homes at all. But the fact is that these people likely had to move onto the street because their housing expenses were much too high for their income to cover.
- 23% of cities homeless suffer helplessly from mental illness. [ref.]
These mental illnesses left untreated make it impossible for individuals to properly care for themselves. With no attention given to these cases they are forced onto the street to live meager existences.
- 32% of families who request shelter are turned down due to lack of shelter resources. [ref.]
With all the shelters available it is easy to think that if a person is sleeping on the street it is because they are not taking advantage of the resources available to them. This just is not the truth; the fact is that the need is much greater than the resources that are currently available.
- 56% of cities polled state that they were not able to provide an adequate amount of food to the hungry people of their community. [ref.]
Many people just assume that the system will care for the homeless. The fact is that the system is not equipped to care for the large number of homeless people; that is where we come in.