Reduce Family Homelessness
By age twelve, 83% of homeless children have experienced violence, and many more have witnessed violence. Obviously, this often results in a depressed and stressed child who exhibits emotional and behavioral problems common to those with traumatic stress disease.
In addition, homeless children are 4 times more likely to have respiratory problems, gastrointestinal problems, and asthma. They often experience hunger. They are twice as likely to have learning disabilities and delayed development.
A typical sheltered homeless family is comprised of a mother in her late twenties with two children. However increasingly two parent families are experiencing homelessness after losing their homes as a part of the current economic situation. This is particularly true in certain areas of the country. In some places, public programs have coordinated their services to work with public programs and better serve and house homeless families. Sometimes private donors have taken the lead.
Communities such as Almeda Count CA have taken steps to improve their response to family homelessness. Their success, a 37 percent decline in family homelessness, offers a glimpse of what can be accomplished nationally with the necessary commitment of political will and financial resources.These resources include access to subsidized housing for families, access to free health care, and access to support services for those suffering various forms of traumatic stress disease.
Promise the Children supports all efforts to reduce family homelessness with subsidized housing and other public and charitable programs.
http://www.familyhomelessness.org/
http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/families/
http://www.acphd.org/hchp.aspx/
http://www.masslegalhelp.org/income-benefits/emergency-assistance/homebase/
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/topics/Pages/housing-homelessness.aspx/
