Invisible Men: African American Male Homelessness

History

Homelessness has been an issue of concern in the U.S. since the mid-1800s. Although there were no organizations documenting statistics at that time, it is believed that 10 percent of the homeless population were African-Americans. Even a century later, in the 1950s and 1960s, most homeless individuals were white males in their 50s. The number of homeless people has grown significantly since the 1980s, but little has been done to reduce these numbers. Nearly 8 percent of Americans have been homeless some time during their lives. Presently, it is believed that somewhere between 2.5 million and 3.5 million people experience homelessness at some time each year.
Despite not having a place to call home, approximately 20 percent of these street people have either full- or part-time jobs. The problem is that most do not have medical insurance, and the majority cannot get Medicare or Medicaid. Because they are not insured, these individuals have to ignore their medical problems and not get regular check ups to prevent chronic conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. They end up going to the emergency room when they can no longer take care of themselves.
When hospitalized, the average length of stay of a homeless person is about four days. This is 36 percent longer than low-income, non-homeless individuals, even after when adjusting for substance abuse and mental illness, among other issues.

The number of homeless children runs somewhere between 500,000 to over 2 million. These children, adolescents and young adults are found in cities and towns of all sizes, as well as in remote areas. It is now recognized that many of them are "aged out" foster care youth, who could not make the transition after leaving their last home. There are also teens and young adults who escaped abusive situations at home or whose parents are homeless at times during the year. It has been difficult to know how many of these children are runaways, or living on their own and have no place to return, and how many live with their family in a shelter. The ethnic breakdown of these youths or what happens to them when they get older is also unknown. It is agreed that the number of homeless children is steadily increasing in the cities and rural areas. In many cases, it is because their single mother no longer has work and/or cannot pay for rent.

Americans do understand the reasons for why so many people are homeless. They recognize, as the statistics show, that job loss is a major impetus for becoming homeless. They also list affordable housing and substance abuse as causes. However, most people in the U.S. do not realize the age and ethnic make up of the homeless. Most people understand the root causes of homelessness, but aren't as clear on who the homeless are. For example, they do not understand that there are so many single parents and children in the shelters. They still are under the impression that the average homeless person is a single, white, working-age man. Eighty percent say that the average person on the street is a male and 41 percent say the average person is white.

Veterans, male and female, comprise a high percentage of homeless. Although male veterans only make up 34 percent of the overall population of the U.S., 40 percent are homeless. On an average night, about 200,000 veterans are looking for a place to stay. Over the year, about 400,000 will be homeless at some time. The Department of Veteran Affairs only has 10,000 rooms available for this population. About 45 percent suffer from mental illness, but yet many of them have no insurance coverage. The VA only cares for 40,000 out of 460,000 vets a year. It is not true that most of the homelessness of vets is due to combat military experiences. Some have difficulty fitting in after getting out of the service. Nor are most veterans from the Vietnam War. Most of the homeless vets are from the late Vietnam and post-Vietnam period. They were not involved with combat, but do have substance abuse or mental health issues. The percentage of African-Americans and whites is about even.

In 2002, there were about 62,000 homeless shelters in America. In most cases, people can only stay in the facility at night and during the day look for shelter and food. This includes shelters with mothers and young children, as well. Some shelters are specifically earmarked for a certain demographic, such as those who suffer from HIV/AIDS, victims of domestic violence, substance abusers, teen parents and families. Some shelters have soup kitchens, offer job training, support groups, referral services and substance abuse help.
Many shelters do not have any storage space for personal goods or even lockers. Some people do not get into the shelter, because the lines form very quickly. There is also a fear of going into a shelter, because of theft, physical harm or overcrowding. Since there are many individuals with mental problems, this can also be an issue for mothers and children. These latter individuals cannot stay in shelters with men, so they more difficulty finding a place at night. There are always homeless people who sleep in automobiles, parks, streets, trains, subways or bus stations. Some prefer this to living in a home or a shelter.