History

1. 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.

Potential

2. 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.

Misconceptions

3. 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.

Prevention/Solution

4. 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.

Considerations

5. 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.

n-depth life history interviews with 31 African-American male crack-cocaine users in Philadelphia were conducted as part of a demonstration project on homeless substance-abuse programs. Topics analyzed include the informants' extensive experience of early life disruptions, childhood trauma and interpersonal violence; the importance of street gang life and violence while growing up; the transitory and unstable nature of the men's employment histories; the development of their careers of drug use and dealing; the involvement of drinking and drugs in the transition to homelessness; and their view of treatment as a resource for a respite from the streets.

Ethnographic research methods, which ...

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Minorities and Homelessness

Published by the National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009.

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BACKGROUND

Homelessness emerged as a national issue in the1870’s (Kusmer, 2002). At that time in American history, African-Americans made up less than 10% of the population and although there were no national figures documenting the demography of the homeless population, some sources suggest that African-Americans represented a very small segment of the homeless population. As a matter of fact, in the 1950s and 1960s, the typical person experiencing homelessness was white, male, and in his 50s (Kusmer, 2002).

Since that time, however, the scope and demographic makeup of the problem have changed dramatically. Not only do families with children now comprise 41% of the homeless population (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2006), but 42% of the population is African American. The composition of the average homeless family is a single parent household headed by an African-American female (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2004).

DEMOGRAPHICS AND TRENDS

• People of color – particularly African-Americans – are a minority that is particularly overrepresented. According the PBS Homeless Fact and Figures ’07, 41% are non-Hispanic whites (compared to 76% of the general population), 40% are African Americans (compared to 11% of the general population) 11% are Hispanic (compared to 9% of the general population) and 8% percent are Native American (compared to 1% of the general population).

• Like the total U.S. population, though, the ethnic makeup of homeless populations varies according to geographic location. For example,people experiencing homelessness in rural areas are more likely to be white, female, married, currently working, homeless for the first time, and homeless for a shorter period of time (Fisher, 2005); homelessness among Native Americans and migrant workers is also largely a rural phenomenon.

• Many other urban communities cite similar or higher numbers. The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless reports that 77% of its total homeless population is African-American.

• The disparities between ethnicities in the U.S. population and the homeless population are striking. In 2007, the homeless population was 47% African-American, though African-American people made up only 12% U.S. adult population. The homeless population was only 35% white, though white people made up about 76% of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2003; U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2007).

• Veterans make up approximately one-third of the male homeless population. Among this population about 46% are white, 56% are African-American or Latino (Department of Veteran Affairs, 2005).

• The sexual orientation of homeless persons is not often measured, but the National Network of Runaway and Youth Services estimates that about 6% of homeless adolescents are gay or lesbian. Studies assessing sexual orientations of homeless adolescents have revealed rates ranging from 11% to 35% (American Journal of Public Health, 2002). These youths face considerable risk of violence and abuse while homeless.
  

Abstract

Research to date has given little attention to differences in the experience of youth homelessness by ethnicity. This article provides a comparative descriptive analysis of the effect of differences and similarities in paths to homelessness, self-perception, and survival strategies on health behaviors and consequent health outcomes of African American and white homeless youth in San Francisco, USA. We conducted participant observation and ethnographic interviews with 54 youth primarily recruited from street venues. Hypotheses generated from the ethnographic data were validated in between-group analyses using concurrent epidemiological data collected from a sample of 205 youth. Our samples of unstably housed African American and white youth, though sharing common histories of family dysfunction, differed in both the ethnographic accounts and epidemiological analyses in their experiences of family, access to housing, street survival strategies, self-presentation, health behaviors and service utilization. Our sample of white youth generally identified with the term “homeless,” engaged in survival activities associated with such a label, and accessed the services intended to address the needs of homeless youth. In contrast, our sample of African American youth generally did not perceive themselves as “homeless,” a stigmatized term, and were thus less likely to utilize, or be accessed by, relevant services.

Posting History

Abstract

Abstract This study determined whether homeless injection drug users (IDUs) were more likely than stably housed IDUs to engage in HIV-associated risk behaviors. Respondent driven sampling was used to recruit 343 African American male IDUs. About 69% of men had been homeless in the past year and 13% were HIV positive. Controlling for age and income, homeless men as compared to stably housed men were 2.6 times more likely to report sharing needles, 2.4 times more likely to have 4 or more sex partners and 2.4 times more likely to have had sex with other men. Homeless men were also twice as likely to report having unprotected sex with a casual partner and about two-thirds less likely to report never using sterile needles. Self-reported HIV status was an effect modifier of these associations such that the observed relationships applied mostly only to men who were not knowingly HIV positive.

Overview of Homelessness

About one-third of the adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services. Current population estimates suggest that about 131,000 Veterans (male and female) are homeless on any given night and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. Many other Veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing. Right now, the number of homeless male and female Vietnam era Veterans is greater than the number of service persons who died during that war -- and a small number of Desert Storm veterans are also appearing in the homeless population. Although many homeless Veterans served in combat in Vietnam and suffer from PTSD, at this time, epidemiologic studies do not suggest that there is a causal connection between military service, service in Vietnam, or exposure to combat and homelessness among Veterans. Family background, access to support from family and friends, and various personal characteristics (rather than military service) seem to be the stronger indicators of risk of homelessness. Almost all homeless Veterans are male (about three percent are women), the vast majority are single, and most come from poor, disadvantaged backgrounds. Homeless Veterans tend to be older and more educated than homeless non-Veterans. But similar to the general population of homeless adult males, about 45% of homeless Veterans suffer from mental illness and (with considerable overlap) slightly more than 70% suffer from alcohol or other drug abuse problems. Roughly 56% are African American or Hispanic.

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Homelessness: A Challenge to African American Males (Paperback)

by Charles Orr (Author) "I was homeless in the city of Chicago..." (more)
Key Phrases: African American, United States, Conference of Mayors

Torrance T. Stephens¹, Ronald Braithwaite¹, Judy Lubin¹, Sha Juan Colbert¹ and Rudolph H. Carn²

(1)	the Department of Behavioral Sciences And Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, USA

(2)	AIDS Education & Services for Minorities, Atlanta, GA, 2001 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Suite 602, 30310 Atlanta, GA

Conclusion To make health education efforts more effective with this population, researchers and health promotion professionals need to collect additional data to formulate health policy specific to AA male CSWs. While these findings support the current available research on the subject, little attention has been placed on addressing primary motives and their relationship to risk taking among the target population. We see that there is a strong need for new programmatic efforts in HIV/AIDS risk reduction that go beyond condom use and maintenance skills development. This implies that social outreach that provides CSWs with skills that assist in screening potential sex partners, based on their sexual preferences, may need to be tested and developed if we desire to curb the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Many of the CSWs were willing to participate in unsafe sex acts with the possibility of more money, which can be attributed to their desperate need for shelter or food. The homeless CSW population in the United States should be considered a high-risk group for HIV infection. They have obvious competing subsistence needs and other barriers that impact the practice of HIV/AIDS risk behaviors. Future interventions should be tailored to also address the social and economic situations of the men.

His current interests include Prostate Cancer and HIV/AIDS.

His current interests include minority health issues and HIV in prison. He has recently published Prisons and AIDS and several other books on minority health.

Her current interests include minority health issues.

Her current interests include minority health issues and HIV Prevention in adolescents.

African Americans began a history of homelessness and poverty both physically and mentally when we were stolen from Africa, and displaced in the Americas. We were imprisoned both mentally and physically once they put the shackles on our feet, hands, waists and necks. From there our ancestors were put on board slave ships and sent to different parts of the Americas and elsewhere. This process is what has been termed the “Middle Passage.” The late African American scholar, Dr. John Henrick Clarke, in the introduction to Tom Feelings superb picture book Middle Passage describes it thusly, “The triangular trade system was so named because the ships embarked from European ports, stopped in Africa to gather the captives, after which they set sail for the New world to deliver their human cargo, and then return to port again.” Clarke goes on to say, “Nowhere in the annuals of history have a people experienced such a long and traumatic ordeal as Africans during the Atlantic sea trade. Over the nearly four centuries of the slave trade –which continued until the end of the civil war-millions of African men, women and children were savagely torn from their home land, herded onto ships, and dispersed all over the so-called new world. Although there is no way to compute exactly how many people perished, it has been estimated that between 30-60 million Africans were subjected to this horrendous triangular trade system and that only one third –if that-of those people survived.

Williams, David A. (2009) unpublished manuscript; Invisible Men: African American Male Homelessness and Poverty in America: Origins and Meaning, European Cultural Hegemony and Globalization