CNA Staff, Dec 30, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Friday released a report estimating that nearly 772,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States at the beginning of 2024, the highest number recorded since data collection began in 2007.
HUD’s figure, produced during an annual point-in-time count conducted in January 2024, represents an increase of 118,376 people and an 18% jump from the number of homeless people counted in 2023. About half of the people counted were in sheltered locations, such as homeless shelters or domestic violence houses, while half were in unsheltered locations.
More than half of people experiencing homelessness counted in the study were in one of the nation’s 50 largest cities. Almost 20% of the homeless individuals overall were experiencing chronic patterns of homelessness, HUD said.
A major factor in the rising number of homeless people in 2024, HUD reported, was migrants and people seeking asylum. For example, New York City saw a 53% increase in homelessness between 2023 and 2024, and an estimated nine out of every 10 new homeless people are asylum seekers, the report says. Experts cited by NPR said there is reason to believe that the number of homeless asylum seekers has likely dropped since HUD made its count due to new border security measures implemented last summer under President Joe Biden.
HUD also cited as a reason for growing homelessness a number of natural disasters that displaced people from their homes in 2023, including the Maui wildfires, which led to an estimated 87% increase in total homelessness in Hawaii between 2023 and 2024.
In addition, rising rents and a lack of affordable housing in some communities, as well as the end of pandemic-era protections like the roughly 17-month national eviction moratorium that began in March 2020, have led to increases in unsheltered homelessness, HUD says.
In 2024, more than 259,000 people in families with children were experiencing homelessness, the largest number since HUD’s data collection began. Nine in 10 people experiencing homelessness as families were in a sheltered situation.
At the same time, nearly 33,000 veterans were experiencing homelessness as of the count, six out of 10 of whom were sheltered while four out of 10 were unsheltered — a decrease in the unsheltered population in recent years.
As “EWTN News In Depth” detailed in a report earlier this year, Catholics are involved in efforts across the country to care for the homeless, including projects to provide emergency shelter as well as long-term affordable housing. Catholic parishes also run food banks, soup kitchens, and provide case management, spiritual support, and access to showers and laundry facilities. In 2022, Catholic Charities served more than 30 million meals and found almost 40,000 permanent housing units for unhoused people.
The U.S. Supreme Court last summer ruled in a pivotal case related to homelessness, City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Gloria Johnson, that cities can arrest or fine homeless individuals for camping in public spaces.
The decision reversed a circuit court ruling that had said fining and imprisoning homeless individuals for camping in public spaces qualified as cruel and unusual punishment for an involuntary condition, something prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.
Speaking on behalf of the U.S. Catholic bishops, Archbishop Borys Gudziak, head of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said following the ruling that the court’s decision amounts to “criminalizing” homelessness and will only worsen the crisis. The U.S. bishops had filed an amicus brief in the case, arguing against Grants Pass’ ability to fine and imprison homeless individuals.
“Instead of punishing the most vulnerable among us, [the] government should help provide shelter and economic and social programs that uphold and enhance the dignity of homeless persons,” Gudziak said. “Such action would offer real opportunities for a better life and to remedy the deeper causes of homelessness.”
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You’re not homeless if you choose to make your home in a park, on the street, or under bridge overpasses.
My late father did something utterly cool and IMO, very Christian, and my brother, who inherited most of our dad’s properties, is continuing to do the same thing. I wish others would consider following their example.
MY Dad, who was a pipe-fitter and farmer, owned many properties, mainly duplexes, but also small homes. Most of his properties were in older but safe neighborhoods within walking distance of grocery stores and other shopping, schools, churches, and recreational opportunities (parks and playgrounds).
The houses and duplexes in these neighborhoods were built in the late 1950s and early 1960s to handle the huge influx of returning military personnel who had a G.I. Bill for housing. The properties were not fancy but they were in good shape–usually 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a living room, and an eat-in kitchen, along with a basement and a 1-car garage, and a pretty little yard. (Definitely not HGTV-worthy!).
My dad (and now my brother) would rent these places to people who didn’t have large incomes, but were working anyway, and he told them that he would cut the rent by a third or even in half if they would put in some “sweat equity”–mowing the lawn (and Dad provided the lawn mower), planting some flowers or shrubs (Dad paid for the plants), painting a room or two, cleaning out the basement, etc.
He enjoyed visiting his renters once a month to collect the rent in person and to ask if they needed anything and often, he would bring a cake or a bag of bakery cookies along and sit and talk with his renters. His renters considered him a saint. I remember one family that saved the money that they would have spent on rent and eventually saved enough for a good down payment on a small home–they literally called my Dad a saint for giving them the opportunity to live in a good home for a reasonable price and save their money to buy their own home.
After he retired from his factory job (pipe fitter), my dad, along with my brother, started a “salvaging” business–they would clean out “junked up” homes (and be paid for it). They would keep anything they found that was in good shape, repair anything that could be repaired (my brother is a mechanical genius!), and recycle anything that could be recycled. My brother repaired all the lawn mowers, which were given to renters and often the furniture they salvaged was in good-enough shape to help a renter furnish their apartment or housing for free.
And now my brother does this same good work with the properties. Nobody suspects that this grubby-looking man who sits in his favorite restaurant every day drinking coffee is…well, IMO, a saint who will go the extra HUNDRED MILES to help someone who needs a safe place to live.
I wish more wealthy people would do this. I realize that there are many more homeless people than cheap houses, and I also realize that providing housing for people who are addicted (drugs, alcohol, etc.), mentally or emotionally ill (they need to be housed in a facility that will help them recover and keep them and others safe), or criminals (drug sellers, pimps, etc.) is not wise.
I also realize that some cities and town have ordinances against too many people living in an apartment or house–a policy which I think need to be re-examined, as many immigrants are happy to have relatives and friends all living together for practical reasons (older relatives who provide childcare for working parents, young men and women to do the work of taking care of the house and lawn, and children who are usually quick to pick up the English language, use a computer and other tech, and adopt “American” ways and help their parents navigate the new country!
I think people like my late father and my brother have come up with a good way to help good people avoid ending up homeless or living in a tent, a truck, or a shelter. I think it would be a good thing for city governments to work with people like my brother who are willing to give up huge rent and fancy home renovations in order to help regular people and immigrants who can’t afford to buy a house or pay the typical rent on a small house or apartment.