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Homeless families sometimes
use cars for
shelter.
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More than 700,000 Americans will be homeless tonight. What can we
do about one of our toughest problems?
 Frank Simmonds was
hitting bottom, living on the streets in Brooklyn, New York. "My
friend lived in this abandoned building. In one section, he had sheets
and cardboard boxes, and I used to go there and stay with him. I used
to eat old doughnuts out of dumpsters. I felt so low."
. . . How could this happen when
America is enjoying such  prosperous
times? In 1999, the U.S. had its lowest unemployment rate in 30 years.
The number of people living in poverty continues to drop.
Despite this prosperity, some
Americans are suffering. According to a study of 26 cities by the
U.S. Conference of Mayors, requests for emergency shelter increased
by an average of 12 percent in 1999. On any given night, more than
700,000 Americans—like Frank Simmonds—are homeless. . . .
Causes of Homelessness
Why do people become homeless? According
to most estimates, between 25 and 40 percent of the homeless suffer from
serious problems such as mental illness or drug addiction. These individuals
may resist going to a shelter or accepting aid.
But for the majority of homeless,
the cause is easy to understand: They are homeless because they are poor.
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For many people, a
single catastrophe—such as an illness or the loss of a job—can
send them on a nightmarish downward spiral into poverty. Once they
are in it, it is hard to get out. According to the National Coalition
for the Homeless, the leading reasons for homelessness are poverty
and a cutback in government services.
In the mid-'90s, many states introduced
"workfare" programs that require people to work for welfare
benefits. The results are mixed. On the one hand, more people have
jobs. On the other hand, many of the jobs pay such low wages that
workers are still stuck in poverty. And by getting jobs, many workers
have lost health care, food stamps, and other welfare benefits.
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