Homelessness and Poverty

Professional research supports what Metropolitan Ministries’ experience has been in the Tampa Bay community – homelessness is more than just being without a house. The vast majority of homeless people are actually entangled in one or more of the most severe social problems of our time.

CAUSES OF HOMELESSNESS and POVERTY

HOMELESSNESS IN THE UNITED STATES

HOMELESSNESS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA

HOMELESSNESS IN THE TAMPA BAY AREA

HOMELESSNESS IN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY

THE INNOCENT VICTIMS: HOMELESS CHILDREN

DID YOU KNOW…

CAUSES OF HOMELESSNESS and POVERTY

Numerous studies (including studies/surveys by the US Conference of Mayors and Florida’s Department of Families and Children) document the following factors threaten the stability and self-sufficiency of families.

• a lack of affordable housing,
• low-paying job, 
• unemployment, 
• limited life skills, 
• domestic violence,
• physical and mental health care needs, 
• drug and alcohol addiction, 
• insufficient education and
• poverty

HOMELESSNESS IN THE UNITED STATES

Nationally, during 2004, the number of requests for shelter by homeless families increased by an average of 7 percent, and 32 percent of families seeking shelter could not find it. The number of requests for emergency food assistance increased by 14 percent and 56 percent of requests were made by families with children.  Additionally, 34 percent of adults requesting emergency food requests were employed. (US Conference of Mayors’ 2004 Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness)

The US Conference of Mayors’ 2004 Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness found that in the United States, of those who are homeless, …

• 40 percent are families with children
• 41 percent are single men
• 14 percent are single women
•   5 percent are unaccompanied minors
• 66 percent of homeless families are headed by a single parent
• 17 percent are employed
• 10 percent are veterans
• 30 percent have drug and alcohol addictions
• 23 percent suffer from mental illness

HOMELESSNESS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA

THE INNOCENT VICTIMS: HOMELESS CHILDREN

The most unsuspecting and innocent victims of poverty and homelessness are children. Nearly 300 homeless children resided with their family at Metropolitan Ministries last year, and thousands more at-risk children were helped through our Outreach and Prevention Services. Children who experience poverty and homelessness…

• Experience more mental health problems (low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, anger, withdrawal) than children who do not experience homelessness. 7
• Experience social stigma related to their family’s situation, not having needed school supplies, clothing and shoes.
• Have higher rates of asthma, ear infections, stomach problems and speech problems. 7
• Are twice as likely to experience hunger. 7
• Have gaps in learning due to irregular school attendance.
• Lack proper in-school assessment.
• Are four times more likely to have developmental delays.

DID YOU KNOW…

That the percent of the overall homeless population homeless families represent has increased by one and a half times since 1985? 1

That most shelters, in the Tampa Bay area and nationally, do not accept homeless families with teenage boys and often require the father to separate from the family? Metropolitan Ministries, however, is committed to keeping the family intact and helping the entire family return to self-sufficiency.

That a person in the Tampa Bay area has to earn $15.48 per hour to be able to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment and utilities at the average market rate of $805 per month? That is two and a half times the new state minimum wage.2

That a person making the new state minimum wage of $6.15 per hour must work 101 hours per week to afford the two-bedroom unit.2

That nationally, from 1995 to 2001 rents rose at one and a half times the rate of inflation? 3

That 34 percent of adults requesting emergency food assistance are employed?4

That 46 percent of homeless parents lived in welfare families as children and 12 percent were homeless as children? 5

That approximately 12 percent of homeless children wind up in the foster care system? 6

That 25 to 33 percent of youth aging out of foster care are likely to become homeless within three years of leaving foster care?8

1 “A Shelter is Not a Home – Or is it?” Institute for Children and Poverty, April 2001
2 “Out of Reach 2004,” National Low Income Housing Coalition Report, December 2004
3 “Affordable Housing: A Quiet Crisis for Families with Children,” Children’s Defense Fund, October 2002
4 “2004 Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America’s Cities,” US Conference of Mayors, December 2004
5 “Homeless Families Today: Our Challenge Tomorrow,” Institute of Children and Poverty, February 1998
6 Child Welfare League of America: National Fact Sheet 2003
7 “Homeless Families with Children,” National Coalition for the Homeless, June 2001
8 Annual Report on Homeless Conditions in Florida, 2002-2003 Fiscal Year, June 2004