Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 22, 1993 TAG: 9312220035
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"When you talk about homelessness, people seem to think about the man that's sleeping on the park bench or the lady walking down the street with bags," said St. Louis Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr., co-chairman of the group's Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness.
"But it's families, it's women and children that are gradually beginning to feel these problems."
The 1993 study also found that single men make up about 43 percent of the homeless, single women comprise 11 percent and unaccompanied minors make up 4 percent.
And 30 percent of adults asking agencies for food are employed, the study said. Eighteen percent of homeless people had full or part-time jobs.
"Homelessness was thought of as the tragedy of the '80s. What this report shows again today is that hunger and homelessness continue to be the tragedies of the '90s," said St. Paul, Minn., Mayor James Scheibel, the task force's other co-chairman.
The survey also found wide disparities in the nature of homelessness from city to city, suggesting a need for programs tailored to each city's problem.
The mayors said demographic disparities stem from several factors, such as the types of jobs or shelter space available and the number of services offered in each city.
The reasons for homelessness, however, were consistent: a lack of jobs or marketable skills, substance abuse, mental illness or rent that is too expensive.
In Cleveland, the typical homeless person is a 39-year-old black man who fought in the Vietnam War. In Seattle, more than half of the homeless veterans are white men about the same age.
Officials in Los Angeles reported that "a small but rising percentage" of its homeless are "mobile homeless." According to the survey, "these are individuals or families who have lost their jobs and homes and are living in their vehicles."
Several cities cited successful Department of Veterans Affairs programs for homeless veterans. But officials in Salt Lake City, where veterans are 35 percent of the homeless, said they have trouble getting veterans into the programs.
"They view the [department] as a very bureaucratic organization, and they don't deal well with bureaucracies," Salt Lake City officials said in a statement.
The average amount of time a homeless person spent on the street was seven months. But it ran as long as 18 months in Miami or San Diego, or a year in Louisville, Ky., and New Orleans, the survey said.
Overall, 56 percent of homeless people are black, 27 percent are white, 13 percent Hispanic, 3 percent American Indian and 1 percent Asian. Twenty-seven percent were considered mentally ill, 48 percent were substance abusers and 9 percent had AIDS or illnesses related to the AIDS virus.
This year's study, the task force's 10th annual report, is based on statistics from 26 cities, including Alexandria and Norfolk in Virginia, compiled from Nov. 1, 1992, to Oct. 31 of this year.
by CNB