Old and Homeless

Sometimes we run into stories that really really are sad.  This story in the New York Times is sad. Imagine being old and homeless, whether recently homeless or homeless for a long time. Think about the struggles one has in being homeless. Compound those struggles with the challenges faced by someone who has mobility issues or physical problems identified with being older. Old and on the Street: The Graying of America’s Homeless is an in-depth story that ran on May 31, 2016 and notes [t]he emergence of an older homeless population is creating daunting challenges for social service agencies and governments already struggling to fight poverty.

They lean unsteadily on canes and walkers, or roll along the sidewalks of Skid Row here in beat-up wheelchairs, past soiled sleeping bags, swaying tents and piles of garbage. They wander the streets in tattered winter coats, even in the warmth of spring. They worry about the illnesses of age and how they will approach death without the help of children who long ago drifted from their lives.

Homelessness is not just an issue for elders, but it is an issue that is growing since all of us age. “The homeless in America are getting old… There were 306,000 people over 50 living on the streets in 2014, the most recent data available, a 20 percent jump since 2007, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. They now make up 31 percent of the nation’s homeless population.”

There are the “recently” homeless some of whom lost jobs and others who can’t afford a home on fixed-income, and then there are the long-term homeless.

Many older homeless people have been on the streets for almost a generation, analysts say, a legacy of the recessions of the late 1970s and early 1980s, federal housing cutbacks and an epidemic of crack cocaine. They bring with them a complicated history that may include a journey from prison to mental health clinic to rehabilitation center and back to the sidewalks.

The article notes the incidences of homelessness is somewhat geographic and is rising in the larger metropolitan areas.  The article features interviews with several  elders in California who are homeless.

How do cities respond to the challenges of individuals who are homeless, and especially those elders who are homeless? “The challenges faced … have forced advocates for the homeless and government agencies to reconsider what kinds of services they need: It is not just a meal, a roof and rehabilitation anymore.” 

Assign this article to your students and ask them to create a plan for their city to provide services. It should be an interesting class discussion.