ASIDNGTO • D.C. - Secretary of
g d Urban Development, Samuel
. Pierce. Jr., released a udy containin�
a tiona) profil of the alion's ome
population and emergency shelters.
The nationwide' study, recently com
p eted by mID's Office of Polic:y De-
elopment d R ch, as requ ed
by Secretary Pierce because of -the
"absence of reliable . ormation and
data for on the extent of home-
in America, th characteristics
of homel persons, and the a . bDity
of emergency elter cro the ation."
In rei the study, Secretary
eree said,· . report provid the
tional profile of the home
population, based' on systematically col-
ed data, d reveals a ry different
picture of the home
ed to th traditional
perso ."
intervie
in a nationally representati
p e of . ty metropolitan are
tio ey of emergency elter
oper tors, . e . ts to then localit'
the country, 0 with
repr tative of national organizatio
concerned bout the homeless, fifty-
te urvey of te ctivitie, and a
of iVailable local studie and
ccording to the report, the charac-
teristics of the homele population
ha c doer the t 20 year .
The traditional profile of the homel
is th t of single, middle-aged white,
alcoholic men. . Today, that population
co of mor omen, ore minoritie ,
more family members, more mentally
ill, and more young persons that in the
p .
Th mo reliable e timate of the
homel population, nationwide, is be-
een 250,000 0 350,000 persons -
le than' often claimed by me.
erity of the homele problem
varie noticeably by region and by city
size. Contrarv to the populary view
that homelessnes is mo concentrated
in the orth East, the e has the
highe share of the ation's homele
Almo t one-third of homele persons
are in the est, even though only 19
percent . of the country's population
lives three.
1
req ted inform tion ,
uhammad, CAB finance
.. committ ., told CAB members
that lilly had promised the committee
" ........ _,,.....,,- _ . ould ha th information' at the
y 1 m tinge
ine days he (Lilly) agreed to
ha e the information," uhammad told
CAB members, "UDy kee buyin
time."
The fm ce chair explained ho his
committe 0 r the t
m de ver requ ,written a
ith copy to city man r EWa
chell and fmally d th meetin
lilly. Pr t' th Lilly at the m
director Carl Brown, MuJwn
Since lilly to ppear or fu th
The 0 er regions have roughly similar
s of homele peop: orth Cen-
tral, 22 percent; orth Ea , 24 percent;
and South, 24 percent.
"The tr ditional profil. of
. the hom I. .is that of sin-
gl., middl -aged whit.,
alcoholic m n. Today, that
population consists of more
women, more minori j s ... n
AV - 15, 19 4 THE CITIZE
PAGE THREE
ERO SHELTE G 0 S
The upply of emergency
nationally, has expanded recently, with
one-fifth of them having been e b d
in the st year. The shelters can
accommodate over 100,000 people on
any gi n night. Furthermore, many
home per ns recei oucher which
alIo them to liv temporatily in hote
or apartmen until permanent housing
is found, and the number served this y
, not known, but lgnificant. Although
in January 1984, almo t one-half of all
. shelter had to tum away peop on
me nights, nationally, the aver
shelter wa only 70 percent occupi d.
The shelter occupancy rate w hi
. for large city shelter in the Ea (82
, percent).
o eIters are operated privately
and provide eral services: 95 percent
PARTNERSHIP
EDUCATIO
The great majority of the home
are ,foUnd in Jar metropolitan area .
In sinaDer urban are (Ie than 250,000
population) the rate of homele
drops by bout on -half compared to
larger Urban areas (more than 250,000
population).
'The characteristics of this population,
based on the' national ey of elter
operators and dozens of local studi s
are follo :
of the homele are single,
but a significant percent are family
members. Sixty-six percent are single
men; 13 percent are . gl omen; 21
percent are family members.
-The homele population i younger
than in the p . The median age is late
enties to mid-thirties. Only a small
percentag elderly.
- 0 homele persons are hite
but the proportion of minoritie (44%)
increased.
- ost of the homele have been so,
for "a fairly on period of time (le than
6 month ); large minority "slip" into
homelessne occasionally a their reo
sources are depleted or they are evicted
for other reason by their family or
friends.
-Few homele fit the stereotype
of middle-cla or skilled orkeers who
have recently become homele becau
of losing their job . 0 homele have
been living" t the margin" for me time
(such the ingle-pareni weHare hou -
hold unable to afford rents or unemploy
ed young Black male.) Over one-half
of the homele have been unemployed
for a long time or have never been em-
ployed. .
-About one-half of the homele
population suffer from mental illness,
alcoholism or drug abuse, and tho
living on th streets r ther than in shelters
exhibit more of the problem.
o
F
est, for exarnp, here ers ha e
more volunteer staff than in the
Ea, night's Iodgin . one-
half co Iy: $17 ve $30.
Secretary erce id, 64 As this port
male eminently c , Ion -term IOlut-
ions to meetin the Iter 0 the
homele must take into accou the
di 'ty of the population. I belie
this study will be helpful and 1 to
both public and private om
efforts to dd the needs 0 the me-
Ie ."
. inform tion, the board voted to nd
their request to City Manager Ellis
itchell,
Some CAB member wanted their
etter to be sent directly to HUD.
e're not going to get anywhere
with lilly," commented Annie Robin
son.
"The one letter e nt, ent to
the city manager and was ignored,"
ob rved Lourella Lange.
Both CAB chairman Arnold Smith
and uhammad urged the group to
"go through channels."
The vote was animo to contact
Mitchell. If the manager fails to respond,
the CAB will directly appeal to HUD,
- I
uhammad and Smith advi _ d.
o
stand the burden of programs without
planning. The critical -cash flo will
extend through the upcoming 12 to 18
months. If you (the City Commissioner)
decide to do the Rodent' Control Pro
gram, something else will uffer,"
itchell agreed ith Johnson. He
said, "Johnson hit the nail right on th
head about priorities. If depend upon
wh t you (the City Commi ioners) want
priority. If you y you ant to go
The Citizens Advisory Board' com
po d of city re iden ppointed by the
ci y commission. It h the respon '-
bility of recommending of HUD
funds and monitoring city use of tho
fundi •
The city's HUD fund ere cut off
in 1981 after C B monitoring disclo d
spending irregularitie .
ommis ion faces ra e, f ee ing indu try
I
abe d with the program, e fmd
ay to do it. e're talking but year
and a day in one case and 8 month in
the other. I feel this is enough time to
• buy time."
Three commi . oner agreed with the
Rodent Control Program and itchell's
recomm ndation by voting yes. They
ere Commi . oners Ralph Crensh ,
. e Govatos and Charles Hender n.
C f eel II
the city a year and a day from the start
of the ork to pay the amount of their
., $29,000 bid. Hull Horton gave 8
months from completion of the or to
y $24,000.
Richardo Johnson, Financed Directo
d Ellis itchell, City anager were
ed by the commi . oners to give their
reco ndatio. Johnson 'd,' e
e a ery critical cash flo . I still
maintain the City's finances cannot