Who is homeless?

The article “Who is homeless?” was published by the National Coalition for the homeless in July 2009. By reviewing definitions of homelessness and categorizing homeless people into distinct groups, the article reveals different demographic characteristics of those who do not have a home.

At the beginning of this article, the writer lists two definitions of homeless according to the Stewart B. McKinney Act and the McKinney-Vento Act. Basically, they both define “homeless” as being lacked of a regular, stable and competent place to stay at night – time. Being homeless can also mean frequent sharing accommodations with others due to long – term economic disability. In addition, the Department of Housing and Urban Development states that homeless people in rural areas do not tend to live in shelters or stay on the streets. They rather live with relatives in inadequate houses, unfortunately.

The second part of the article focuses on looking into statistics of surveys, mostly conducted by the U.S Conference of Mayors. Therefore, the writer can briefly analyze and give summaries about these figures, which enable him to classify the personalities of homeless people into nine different categories: age, gender, family, ethnicity, victims of domestic violence, veterans, persons with mental illness, and persons suffering from addiction disorders and unemployment factors. Those are what mostly make a person loses his home, and they clearly indicate it is not always the homeless’ fault that got them into such a harsh situation.


Thanks to these illustrations, interesting facts about homelessness have been confirmed and generally discussed, I believe. Personally, I find the part about defining homelessness the most compelling. It could be because I have never thought of how to scientifically identify a homeless person before, I did not imagine there are that many factors required to consider a person being homeless. In addition, the statistical figures in the surveys were shocking to me, since I have always assumed that people become homeless because they are indolent or incapable of finding a job. Now I realize those are not the only reasons; the person’s background will help define who he is and where he is able to live. This truth hence makes me feel much more sympathetic for homeless people. I understand sometimes we do not have a choice, but to cope with life in every possible way we could, even though they are much bitterer than we imagine.