Despite the nation’s economic recovery, many cities still have homelessness rates higher than the national average, according to a new report from The U.S. Conference of Mayors. However, findings show that cities have only seen a small increase in emergency food assistance requests.
The annual assessment from the organization’s Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness has become a measure of the housing and food needs of the most vulnerable residents in the nation’s cities.
This year, The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ task force teamed with the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), a leading nationwide association devoted to ending homelessness, to capture a snapshot of homelessness in cities as well as a comparison of trends between cities and the nation overall.
The national rate of homelessness is 17 people per 10,000. However, of the 32 cities in 24 states that were included in the homelessness analysis, the rate is notably higher—51 people experiencing homelessness per 10,000. Three-quarters of cities had homelessness rates higher than the national rate. These rates ranged from 11 people in Wichita, Kansas, to 124 people in Washington, D.C.
The percentage of unsheltered people in the study cities, 24.7%, is lower than the U.S. rate at 31.6%, according to the findings. Only nine of the study cities had rates higher than the nationwide rate.
For the most part, the study cities are following the national trend of declining homelessness. Two-thirds of study cities, 65%, reported decreases between 2009 and 2016, and 62% have seen decreases from 2015 to 2016.
“The report shows that the experience of homelessness varies. While it is decreasing in some cities, it is increasing in others. In some places a majority of those experiencing homelessness are individuals, while elsewhere it is predominantly people in families,” says Nan Roman, NAEH president and CEO. “The one thing we found to be almost universally true among the surveyed cities was that the lack of affordable housing prevented them from solving the problem of homelessness. While the report shows that many of the cities are able to reduce homelessness, the national lack of affordable housing is likely to have a chilling effect on their efforts over the coming years.”
On the report’s hunger findings, 41% of the 38 surveyed cities reported that the requests for emergency food assistance increased over the past year. Among the survey cities, the assistance increased by an average of 2%.
City officials cited low wages at the top of the list of causes for hunger, followed by high housing costs and poverty. Of those requesting emergency food assistance, 63% were families, followed by 51% who were employed, 18% who were elderly, and 8% who were homeless.
“It is encouraging that the number of people needing emergency food assistance in our cities and metropolitan areas appears to be shrinking,” says Tom Cochran, CEO and executive director of The U.S. Conference of Mayors. “Nevertheless, it is concerning that even people who are employed continue to need the help of food pantries to make ends meet. As policymakers in Washington talk of a national economic recovery, we know the impact of that recovery is not being felt evenly in our communities. Thus, we must continue to examine these issues, bring national attention to them, and highlight local programs that are working in the hopes of replication across the country.”
Santa Barbara mayor Helene Schneider, who chairs the Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness, agrees.
She says cities are going to continue to come together to do what they can for the most vulnerable citizens, and a collaborative effort with government agencies is crucial to their efforts. She adds that she is hopeful that president-elect Donald Trump and his administration will see what progress has been made and use the best practices moving forward.
“I do think it can be and should be a nonpartisan issue of housing the most vulnerable people in our country,” she says.
