Homeless in America’s suburbs: More women, children, jobless struggle to find places to stay, By Frank Eltman (AP), February 16, 2010, Chicago Tribune: “Homelessness in rural and suburban America is straining shelters this winter as the economy founders and joblessness hovers near double digits – a ‘perfect storm of foreclosures, unemployment and a shortage of affordable housing,’ in one official’s eyes. ‘We are seeing many families that never before sought government help,’ said Greg Blass, commissioner of Social Services in Suffolk County on eastern Long Island. ‘We see a spiral in food stamps, heating assistance applications; Medicaid is skyrocketing,’ Blass added. ‘It is truly reaching a stage of being alarming.’ The federal government is again counting the nation’s homeless and, by many accounts, the suburban numbers continue to rise, especially for families, women, children, Latinos and men seeking help for the first time. Some have to be turned away…”
Day: February 19, 2010
Honolulu Star Bulletin Series on Homelessness
Hawaii’s Homeless, series homepage, Honolulu Star Bulletin:
- Fix the problem a roof at a time, By Mary Adamski and Susan Essoyan, February 17, 2010, Honolulu Star Bulletin: “The homeless situation can seem overwhelming to the point where some observers just throw up their hands. ‘When we look at the people who are homeless, sometimes there’s a feeling that, gosh, there are so many of them and they’re growing and there’s nothing that we can do about it,’ said Sylvia Yuen, director of the Center on the Family at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which tracks data on the homeless. But she and other experts say that homelessness is a multifaceted issue that can be tackled piece by piece…”