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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

States and Rural Homelessness

States struggle with ‘hidden’ rural homelessness, By Teresa Wiltz, June 26, 2015, Stateline: “At the Micah Ecumenical Ministries, in the center of this quaint colonial town, Stella Dempsey sits in the waiting room, looking dejected. Ministry staffers offered her a bed at a shelter, but she says she can’t bear to go back. Still, she’s feeling desperate. She is homeless and jobless and sleeps in a tent in the woods. She’s got cirrhosis of the liver, high blood pressure, diabetes and a bad back. Two months ago, she said, she almost died. Now, she’s run out of all her medications, from her bipolar meds to her insulin. She is not eligible for Medicaid under Virginia law…”