The FAMCare Blog

Caseworkers who serve the homeless population have been working overtime during the covid pandemic.

HOMELESSNESS UPDATE: Time, July 22, 2020, Belinda Luscombe

Homelessness has recently been getting worse, with a 3% increase in the number of homeless people just in the past year. But, says Nan Roman, head of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, “there’s never been anything like this.” One Columbia University analysis of unemployment figures suggested that by the end of 2020, homelessness would increase by 40%. In July, about 44.5 million Americans told the Household Pulse Survey takers at the Census Bureau that they either hadn’t made last month’s mortgage or rent payment on time or doubted they could make the next one. Unless Congress acts, the moratorium on evicting people from most federally subsidized housing will run out at the end of July. “Starting on July 25, 2020, landlords must give 30-day notice before pursuing eviction for nonpayment between March 27, 2020, and July 24, 2020,” says a HUD official. The Aspen Institute estimates that by October, 1 in 5 American renters could face eviction.

Throughout 2019, we endeavored weekly to tell the social worker's story in a way that chronicled the impact of your dedicated efforts on the welfare of the American family.

Despite low unemployment rates and a fairly strong economy, the number of homeless and food insecure continue to rise. According to the recently released State of the Homeless 2019 report, as of January, in New York City alone, an all-time record number (63,839) of men, women and children slept in shelters each night. And, according to Feeding America, 40-million people struggle with hunger in the U.S., including more than 12-million children.

If you run a shelter or food bank, chances are you have more to do and more to process every day. That’s where having the right social services software can help you focus more on providing food and shelter and less on paperwork and processes.

Let’s begin 2019 with some good news…

This Christmas Brian Breach got into the spirit of giving, but with a twist; he decided to give to givers. He dressed down as if he were homeless, printed a sign that asked for donations to feed his family at Christmas, and stood in front of a mall with a tin cup. When anyone approached and dropped coins into his cup, he would give them a crisp new $100 bill. “I wanted to recognize the good giving people who would willingly share the little they have to help a stranger in need.” 

In recent years, homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s. In August 2018, there were 62,166 homeless people, including 15,189 homeless families with 22,511 homeless children, sleeping each night in the New York City municipal shelter system. The number of homeless New Yorkers sleeping each night in municipal shelters is now 79% higher than it was ten years ago, and families make up three-quarters of the homeless shelter population.

A Former Disney Employee Tells This Story

Yeweinisht Mesfin went missing in November 2016. Her fellow Disneyland employees found her in her car in a gym parking lot. She lived in her car and that gym parking lot was her home. She would use the gym to shower and use the restroom. After suffering a heart attack, she died in her car waiting for someone to find her.

“I was brought up in a household where Christmas meant fun, laughter, presents and lots of food. Christmas was my favorite time of the year,” a social worker, who prefers to remain anonymous, began her Christmas story. “I guess that’s why, when I began my career in social work, it startled me to realize that for most of the children in my care Christmas was a very difficult time.” 

Since the 1870s, social service agencies have been working diligently to find housing for the homeless, yet on a single night in January 2015, 564,708 people were considered homeless in America.

Case workers involved in health and human services are in a unique position to be aware of families in the communities struggling to make ends meet. During the holidays, things often become even more difficult for low-income families, and it’s very common for the children in these families to go without during the holiday season. Working in health/social services gives you an insider’s look at who can really use help, and you’re in the perfect position to run a holiday toy drive for needy children in your community. It’s fun, easy, and it won’t take a lot of your time, especially if you get people in your office, friends, and family members involved. Use these tips to run a successful holiday toy drive that makes a difference in the lives of needy children and families this year.

Paul has been “sleeping rough” in Bristol, England for 17 years (Sleeping rough is the British equivalent of our being homeless). An articulate and ruggedly handsome man in his fifties, Paul said simply that after a relationship break down he found himself with no place to live. He began to walk around England and, as he puts it, eventually found himself “at the bottom of the chain.