Home. Young and Homeless. America is Ignoring Homeless Families | News & Notes. We’re proud to collaborate with The Nation in sharing insightful journalism related to income inequality in America. The following is an excerpt from Nation contributor Greg Kaufmann’s “This Week in Poverty” column. In this 2007 photo, Kevin Smith, left, and Chimera Tucker, coo at their 7-month-old baby Jazzmine Smith inside of the D.C. Village shelter in Washington. The couple were homeless and had been staying in D.C. More than one-third of Americans who use shelters annually are parents and their children. According to Joe Volk, CEO of Community Advocates in Milwaukee, prevalent family homelessness is no accident. “In 2000, we as a nation — and the Department of Housing and Urban Development — made the terrible decision to abandon homeless children and their families,” said Volk, speaking at a Congressional briefing on The American Almanac of Family Homelessness, authored by the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness.
Volk agreed. Interview with Todd DePastino, author of Citizen Hobo: How a Century of Homelessness Shaped America. An interview withTodd DePastinoauthor of Citizen Hobo: How a Century of Homelessness Shaped America Question: "Hobo" conjures up the 1930s—Woody Guthrie's Bound for Glory and all that—but you start your book with the post-Civil War army of tramps.
What put that army into motion? Todd DePastino: We remember Depression-era hoboes best because that was the last time huge armies of homeless men wandered the nation by rail. But similar masses of the homeless—and indeed similar "Great Depressions"—were a regular feature of American life since at least the 1870s. The word "tramp" was used during the Civil War to mean a long grueling march to battle. But in 1873, the first year of a major economic depression, "tramp" began to refer to the new kind of vagrant who was on his own grueling march with "no visible means of support. " Question: When did "tramps" become "hoboes"? DePastino: Well, there were endless squabbles about the differences between hoboes, tramps, and bums. Homeless in America- The Unseen Community. Throughout the U.S. homelessness continues to be a national problem. The financial crisis of 2008 was a major contributing factor as well as the lack of affordable housing, mental illness, alcoholism, poverty, and dysfunctional families.
National statistics on homeless are staggering with data suggesting over 1.5 million Americans use a shelter or transitional housing during the year. The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates nearly 700,000 Americans experience homelessness on any given night in the U.S. The Federal government has made strides to limit an increasing homeless population, but the problem continues, many times unnoticed in local smaller communities. Understanding the homeless is more than mere statistics. While the homeless may be easily noticed in large cities such as New York or Chicago, they are an unseen community in smaller cities. Over several frigid evenings in La Crosse, Wisconsin I visited a “warming center” located in a church basement. Employed but still homeless, working poor say 'Homelessness can happen to anybody'
By Jessica Hopper, Tim Sandler and Cristina BoadoRock Center Before the sun rises, Cindy and Patrick Kennard wake their three daughters, fold their cots in a Sunday school classroom and pack their lives into suitcases. “This is an every Sunday ritual,” said Cindy Kennard. “It’s something that we do every week and so it just becomes natural. We know the best thing is to get up and keep moving.” The Kennard family of five from Johnson City, Tenn., is homeless.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Kennards is that despite their homelessness, they are still a working family. Photo credit: Ann Curry Cindy and Patrick Kennard “When we fell, we fell hard and we fell fast,” Cindy Kennard told NBC News’ Ann Curry in an interview airing Thursday, Nov. 29 on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams. The Kennards are one of a growing number of working families who have become homeless. “It’s hard sometimes for people to appreciate. The Kennard family settling in at another church shelter. Our House. Homeless Interview : Homeless Man Explains to us why how he became homeless. Homeless Man Ronald Davis Emotional Story Called a Bum, Cries ... These Storied Streets|Profiles of America's Homeless|Tom Morgan, Producer. September 13, 2012… Washington, D.C. These Storied Streets is screened at a closed session of Congress. See statement by Alcee E. Hastings. Neil Donovan, Executive Director, National Coalition for the Homeless says “As lawmakers wrestling with how best to support and preserve our nation’s social safety nets, These Storied Streets hits the Hill with more impact and insight than any recent documentary.
These Storied Streetstravels the roads of forgotten America only to find the most memorable of people whose lives are marred by persistent poverty and filled with expressions of hope. The film succeeds through a first-person objective analysis of homelessness in the United States, from personal tragedies to individual triumphs.” November 7, 2011… Los Angeles Our crew met with Wendle in Los Angles. October 12, 2011… New York, NY Editing begins. October 6, 2011… Virginia Beach, VA Followed up on the story of Bill, Beth and Kylie—the homeless family we had met earlier in the summer. InvisiblePeople.tv.