The Value of a Roof

We’ve all been there, the terribly long day where you feet hurt and all you want to do is go home, snuggle up and go to bed. Imagine not having a home at the end of a difficult day, but instead you shift into the backseat of your car and curl up and sleep for the night. Your seven-year-old child wakes you up at some point and tells you he’s cold. You curl up and go back to sleep. The last straw to the situation is when you turn on your car to see the low gaslight comes up for the second day in a row.

Unfortunately, homelessness is a major issue within the United States, but what is even more amazing is the variety of people that are homeless. It is not just the addiction stricken individual or people who choose to live on the streets, but so frequently its families who cannot make ends meet and even people who have served our country.

According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), homelessness is defined by an individual or family who is residing in any of the following situations:

• Place not meant for human habitation (car, storage facility, abandoned building, campsites)
• Emergency shelter, transitional housing program or supportive housing
• House “doubled up” with family or friends
• Hotel or motel

With such a broad definition of homelessness, the issue becomes even more apparent. In the Austin and Travis County area, there are approximately 5,200 homeless individuals on any given night, according to HUD in 2007. Additionally there were over 600 homeless households with children in Austin in 2007; they represented over 40 percent of the overall homeless population. According to the Austin Independent School District, between 3,000 and 5,000 students are homeless.

Unfortunately, the average age of a homeless person in Austin is seven years old, according to Green Doors organization. Think of where you were in the second grade, for most of us our memories of home do not include living out of the family car. 84 percent of families experiencing are female-headed.

As the problem of homelessness is approached, the “why” question becomes particularly frequent. Two major causes of homelessness are poverty and lack of affordable housing, according to St. Louise House, a program that helps women and children to break the cycle of homelessness. In 2007, a single parent with one child needed to earn $17 an hour to make a living wage, resulting in $33, 819 each year, according to Community Action Network.

Next time you see a homeless individual, do not assume you know how they got there or why they are there, but instead throw a thought out there they may find a roof for the night and some food for hope.