The homelessness crisis is becoming more pervasive and is pervading by the day. A new report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday, May 13 underscored and emphasized the importance of that reality.
According to HUD, California had the biggest jump in people experiencing homelessness from 2019 to 2020.
California estimates of homelessness: 135, 771 individuals, 25,777 people in families with children, 12, 172 unaccompanied homeless youth, 11, 401 veterans, 48, 812 chronically homeless individuals. Total homeless, 2020 were 161, 548. Unsheltered (113,660) and sheltered (47, 888). 40.9 in every 10,000 people were experiencing homelessness.
The federal report estimates that California's homeless population was at 161,548 people as of January 2020, prior to the pandemic, a 7% increase from 2019. In Los Angeles County, the number jumped 13% over the same time period, to 66,436 by January of 2020.
During that Thursday night, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority hosted its first State of Homelessness event with leaders confirming what Californians have all seen — growing and surging homelessness.
“We want to acknowledge over the past year we’re all seeing more tents and more encampments in places we weren’t used to seeing them across L.A.,” Heidi Marston, of LAHSA, said.
Notwithstanding, the Los Angeles Homeless Services (LAHSA) said it did have some success getting people inside during the beginning of the COVID Crisis.
“Our system really pivoted quickly to a rapid life-saving mission at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” LAHSA Executive Director Marston said Thursday. “We had this infusion of state and federal funds and we got all parts of L.A. — 88 cities, county, providers, philanthropy — all on the same page and working toward the same goal of getting as many people inside as possible.”
California resident, Lloyd, stated that being homeless has affected "his mental and physical health." He's been living on skid row for six (6) years and says that he finds it "hard to sleep with no shelter."
"I have been dealing with back pain for two (2) years plus, I was attacked and kicked by a passerby," he added. His crippling and severe leg and back pain are a constant things he has to deal with, but being homeless makes it nearly impossible to heal properly and fast.
As stated in the HUD report, California accounted for 31 percent of all veterans experiencing homelessness in the United States (11,401 veterans) and more than half of all unsheltered veterans (53% or 7,996 veterans).
Additionally, California accounted for 56 percent of all unsheltered homeless unaccompanied youth (9,510 people) and accounted for 15 percent of people in families experiencing homelessness in the U.S. This was a much lower percentage than for people homeless as individuals, 34 percent of whom were in California. 24 percent of people experiencing homelessness as part of a family were unsheltered.
Comments