If you are one of those health buffs who routinely take a walk or jog in the park during mornings, one common sight is the presence of people sleeping in benches, or simply roaming around the premises, people who at first glance can be identified as homeless people. For some reason, it is easy to identify a homeless person in a park from those who are not. Though there are others, who roam around, or sit, even lie in benches, they won’t be mistaken as homeless. Their clothes probably have something to do with it. Most homeless people are given away by their clothes.
Once you pass a certain spot, you’ll notice that there is one slumped on a tree trunk, another sitting on a bench, or digging through a trash can. Going on your next lap, you might even see more, perhaps three or so.
If you have been doing this routine for some time now, you would’ve probably noticed that this time of the year, the homeless guy mostly seen on a bench is no longer visible, and the one who used to dig in garbage cans has vanished. Don’t fret. This is no case for Agents Mulder and Scully. It is simply because the number of chronically homeless people has gone down over the years.
According to the Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), there is an average annual decrease of 15 percent in chronic homelessness in the country. Chronic homeless people are disabled persons who have been continuously homeless for more than a year or have been homeless for at least four times in the last three years. The HUD study showed that 32,000 people have left the streets and emergency shelters last year. All in all, almost 1.6 billion homeless people have found shelters in 2007.
Here is a run-down of the numbers of chronic homelessness as reported by local communities across the country:
2005 - 175,914 homeless people 2006 - 155,623 homeless people 2007 - 123,833 homeless people
Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) are local data collection systems that identify the number of homeless people who found shelters over a 12-month period, instead of counting them over one night. This system makes for a better estimate and provides respective officials with a better picture of the homelessness situation which then translates to better allocation of housing funds more efficiently.
HUD Secretary Steve Preston identifies the possible factors for the 15 percent annual decrease: increased funding, availability of more resources, improved data collection, and better reporting.
The next time you take your running shoes and head for the local park, take note of how many more of these chronically homeless people are left.
Housing Assistance Network < http://new.housingassistancenetwork.com > - is a site that aims to help those who are in the low to moderate income brackets find financial assistance for housing, help in acquiring a new home, or grant programs from both state and non-government institutions.
Article source: http://new.housingassistancenetwork.com/posts/view/chronic-homelessness-reduced-yearly-despite-housing-crisis
