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In case you’ve missed the recent increase in media attention to the issue, homelessness in America is on the rise, especially among families. Certainly cause for prayer and for action in the Church.
What’s equally or perhaps even more disturbing is that there were already 1.5 million kids on the street — one in every 50 kids in the U.S. — according to data recently released by the National Center on Family Homelessness. Much of the data is actually several years old, recorded from 2005-2006, indicating that the situation is likely worse now, and likely to get exponentially worse in the coming months.
Entitled “America’s Youngest Outcasts,” the report and website from the NCFH is fascinating, including state-by-state report cards (in my own state, California, there are 34,000 homeless high school kids alone). But they don’t stop with information. A whole section is dedicated to advocacy, and you can download a free advocacy kit with ways to get involved on multiple levels, including influencing public policy related to affordable housing and homelessness. In other words, they want to help us have a voice that can be heard beyond our muttering to the computer screen, “what a shame.”
From the report’s executive summary, here’s a quick reminder of the realities of homelessness:
Children without homes are twice as likely to experience hunger as other children. Two-thirds worry they won’t have enough to eat. More than one-third of homeless children report being forced to skip meals. Homelessness makes children sick. Children who experience homelessness are more than twice as likely as middle class children to have moderate to severe acute and chronic health problems. Homeless children are twice as likely as other children to repeat a grade in school, to be expelled or suspended, or to drop out of high school. At the end of high school, few homeless students are proficient in reading and math – and their estimated graduation rate is below 25%.
Caring for the poor is God’s issue, not just social activists or government agencies. As poverty and homelessness finally rise to the public consciousness of Americans, how will the church respond? 1.5 million kids — and counting — want to know.
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April 22nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
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April 24th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
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