Some are AIDS victims, many are the elderly, many are children, some are disabled vets, some are illegal immigrants, and many of the homeless hold down full-time jobs. (Blau, 21-30) They are found not only in cities, but in small towns, rural areas, and affluent suburbs. (Kroloff, 1993). Some even make up the "hidden homeless" (Kroloff, 1993), or people who are one crisis away from losing their homes for a variety of reasons, such as a sudden medial emergency or unforeseen health problems.
Recent statistics have found the following "trends:.
1. .the homeless are young people.
2. Minority groups are represented.
3. Families with children constitute approximately 35 percent of the homeless.
4. .working people account for an average of 30 percent of the homeless.
5. .homelessness is found to be a chronic and recurring event." (Hombs, 5).
Why do people become homeless .
Alarming statistics challenge the persistent stereotypes of why people become.
homeless. Stagnating wages, lack of health insurance, domestic violence, changes in social services and welfare programs, cuts in benefit programs, such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Food Stamps and Elderly Assistance, single parent families, drug addiction, mental health problems, natural disasters, job displacement due to military actions, and affordable housing shortages account for increasing poverty among American families. It is also believed that "the distance between the middle and lower classes has begun to shrink dramatically; middle-class households now experience the problem as an inability to afford owning a home, just as homelessness has increased dramatically." (Hoch/Slayton, 253).
In the United States, one of the most economically prosperious nations on earth, our .
government has organized our public and private institutions in such a manner that mass.
homelessness is one of the "normal" outcomes. For example, because of the gap between .