Homelessness Facts

After watching World of Jenks episode "The Street Queen," in which Jenks lives with 22-year-old homeless girl Danielle, I found some statistics about homelessness that I'd like to share with you.


According to statistics on the web site for My Friend's Place, a resource center for homeless youth in southern California:

• More than 1.3 million children are homeless at some time each year.

• 44 percent of homeless youth report that one or both of their parents had at some point received treatment for alcohol, drug, or psychological problems.

• By the time homeless children are 8 years old one in three has a major mental disorder.

• The prevalence rate for substance use disorders among homeless youth is 85 percent.

According to information on a PBS web site:

• 71 percent of homeless people are in central cities; 21 percent are in suburbs; 9 percent are in rural areas.

According to statistics found about homeless veterans:

• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 131,000 veterans are homeless on any given night.

• The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates that on any given night, 200,000 veterans are homeless.

If you or someone you know would like to donate money or volunteer your time to homelessness relief, visit Covenant House, which has locations in the U.S., Canada, and in South America.  For those of you in my home state of Florida, there are Covenant House locations in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.