White Collar Homelessness

Every now and then I run into a blog post that perfectly captures an important idea that we should have a conversation about locally. Most recently I found an post entitled “The Coming Crisis: White Collar Homelessness”; a relevant subject when you consider just a few local facts.

• The number of homes lost to foreclosure in New Haven has risen steeply in 2008 (293 during the first three quarters of 2008, compared to 165 for all of 2007).
• In New Haven there are 769 vacant dwellings and approximately 1,000 homes in the last stage before foreclose.
• In New Haven there has been a 5% increase in homeless individuals and in Connecticut a 13% increase in families this year, compared to last year.
• In New Haven there has been an increase of almost 13% in the number of homeless single women. Women are also losing their children to foster care once they are no longer able to provide shelter.
• Before the overflow shelter opened in November, Columbus House was turning away 8-10 men a night. They would be referred to Emergency Shelter Management Services (Immanuel Baptist), which is also operating at capacity.
  

From the Article:

“Last month, unemployment rates surged to a startling 7.6 percent. As the jobless population is becoming older, many are ending up with no job prospects, no health insurance, and - before long - no home. Homelessness blogger Shannon Moriarty is worried about what will happen next, as shelters and community safety nets are already buckling under shrinking budgets and increased demand.”

Read: “The Coming Crisis: White Collar Homelessness”

Jack Healy
President and CEO
United Way of Greater New Haven