The Familiar Faces of Homelessness
Homelessness, or the state of being unsheltered, is not a far removed issue happening somewhere else in the world. It’s an issue that hits, well, close to home. It’s a challenge that our own brothers and sisters face within our very communities.
Homelessness has many familiar faces.
Homelessness is the face of your friendly neighborhood grocery cashier.
Homelessness is the face of your favorite coffee shop barista.
Homelessness is the face of your hardworking recent college graduate in immense student loan debt.
Homelessness is the face of the person seated next to you in church.
Homelessness is the face of the single parent who lost one of their three jobs and cannot afford their rent.
Many folks can appreciate understanding those moments in life when you’ve fallen on hard times. Who was there to help you backup on your feet when the rug was pulled out from under you?
Impacting more than 161,000 California residents, homelessness is an issue that those we deeply love and care about face daily as they have found themselves in one of life’s tough spots.
At United Hope Builders, we are that warm hand that reaches out to help pull them back up.
Everyone has a story. In order to pursue our mission to eradicate homelessness, we must understand the root causes and heal those issues rather than bandage up the symptoms.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness tells us that folks in the East Palo Alto community and beyond have found themselves in an unsheltered state because of:
Inaccessible housing
Unaffordable housing
Health disadvantages
Escaping violence
Racial disparities
When Housing is Inaccessible & Unaffordable
When a person’s income to expense ratio is severely imbalanced, the chances of homelessness is near.
Imagine the pressure a young adult with student loans is facing while just starting out in the professional world. Our community leaders, lawmakers, developers and donors must come together to work towards lessening the gap between cost of housing and earned income for the sake of many neighboring families.
When Health Disadvantages are Linked to Homelessness
Mental and physical health disabilities are not mutually exclusive from homelessness. 20% of the homeless population is reported to have a severe mental illness. Healthcare is often out of reach for those experiencing homelessness. Our unhoused friends working to overcome mental health challenges, physical health obstacles, or substance abuse need safe and stable housing for healing and recovery to occur.
When Violence Leads to Homelessness
We must do what we can to protect those who can not protect themselves. Nearly 50,000 beds are secured for domestic violence survivors. Affordable housing solutions are critical to work to eliminate the possibility of future violence.
Racial Disparities
Systemic inequality is seen directly in the face of those that are homeless.
Minorities in America are at a far greater risk of experiencing homelessness and racial disparities can be seen in many areas as it relates to homelessness, including poverty levels, housing discrimination, incarceration, and access to quality healthcare. Understanding the causes of homelessness is the first step, addressing the long list of negative impacts as a result of injustices is the next.
Where do we go from here?
It’s simple: the solution to homelessness is housing.
Housing Hope is on the Horizon
At United Hope Builders, we put our faith into action. With your support, we can continue to come together in the fight against homelessness and help our community put down roots.
We are expanding the supply of affordable housing through modular homes. Together, we can infuse safe and secure housing into our EPA community and beyond.
We want to ensure that the familiar faces you know and love, your grocery store cashier, your coffee shop barista, that single mother doing it all, and that recent college graduate, all have accessible housing solutions to meet them just where they are in this precious journey through life.
Modular homes might be our medium of choice, and our one true mission is to not simply just create homes, but to build hope.
