Obama's "Recovery" Brings Homelessness to More Families

August 16, 2009 (LPAC)—A report from Michigan, demonstrates that the economic devastation there is changing the face of homelessness from the once typical middle-aged male with mental illness or drug-related issues, to include educated, but unemployed professionals and households, often headed by single mothers. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than half a million family members used emergency or transitional housing between Oct. 1, 2007 and Oct. 1, 2008. The number of homeless families rose 9%, and 56% in suburban and rural areas; women make up 81% of adults in homeless families and tend to be younger than 30 years old, with children under the age of 5. In some areas of the country, homelessness has tripled since 2007. Marc Craig, president of the Community Housing Network in Oakland County, Michigan told the Washington Post that the situation is going to get a lot worse. "Thousands of people will lose their unemployment benefit in the next few months," he said. "Many of them will become homeless."
Kevin Roach, executive director of the South Oakland Shelter in Royal Oak, Mich., reports a dramatic increase in the number of women and children seeking help, but his shelter only has 30 beds. "We turned down 320 children" last October. "That's a number that's burned in my head."
Roach further reported that in the last months, the number of people with a bachelor's degree seeking help overtook those with mental health problems. "A third of our clients once had a steady income," he said. There are so many homeless children in Oakland County schools, that Susan Benson, director of Oakland Schools Homeless Student Education Program, estimates that "The average age of a homeless person in Oakland County is just under 9. Most [homeless families] are doubled up, living with friends, hours away from their schools."
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