Home
Why
they become homeless
Statistics
Pictures
Project
Brochure
More
about us
Donations
Links
|
A Snapshot
of Homelessness
Between 700,000
and 800,000 people are homeless on any given night. Over the course
of a year between 2.5 and 3.5 million people will experience homelessness
in this country. In order to end homelessness, it is necessary to
understand the needs and characteristics of the sub-populations of
this large group. The most significant sub-groups are people who
experience homelessness as part of a family group, and those who
are single adults.

Despite the rising
numbers of homeless people in U.S.A, one of the main obstacles to
facing and tackling this social phenomenon remains the widespread
negative image of the homeless. Among decision-makers, this translates
into apathy or repressive measures such as "clean-up" operations.
Ironically, these are called "prophylactic".
From its daily work with the homeless, we know that the negative stereotypes
do not correspond to the reality. Our beneficiaries are persons who find
themselves in a difficult situation due to unfortunate circumstances
(housing fraud, loss of employment resulting from layoffs or family problems,
lengthy inprisonment for small crimes, etc.), and due to the absence
of any "social net" to catch them on time and allow them get
back on their feet.
While they struggle every day to get off the streets, the majority of
the homeless manage to keep enough of an appearance and semblance of
normality to melt into the city crowds. The person we see rummaging through
garbage cans in midday or the "bomjee" we read about in the
tabloids represent only a slim minority of the homeless population, the "tip
of the iceberg".
An anonymous questionnaire to its patients in the year 2000 reveals that
their biggest wish is simply to have a "normal" life, which
they define as having a roof, a job, a family. As a grup, we can do photo
exhibitions, concerts, and other awareness-raising
activities which all aim to break stereotypes—the first step towards
the social reintegration of the homeless.
The following data is selected from a survey that MSF conducted among
22,513 of its patients between 1995 and 2000 and show—inasmuch
as statistics can—the "real face" of homelessness

|
|
Most
homeless people are of working age, are fit to work, are
looking for a job, and are trying to re-integrate into society.
Half of those who consult an MSF social worker request help to
find employment.
More than 80% of the homeless are men.
|
|
|
More
than 1 out of every dozen homeless persons has a college-level
education. 1 out of 5 has vocational training.
|
 |
*
MSF's dispensary is not restricted to the homeless. Every
year a small number of persons who are poor but have a place
to live come to see our doctors. As a result of the financial
crisis in August, 1998, these patients were more numerous
in 1999.
|
The waves of privatization
and housing fraud in the early and mid 90's drove thousands of people
to lose their jobs and apartments and end up in the streets.
For the past few years about 30% of the homeless population have been
ex-prisoners. The link between incarceration and homelessness is above
all legal and administrative. An old Soviet law is still in effect: the
state deprives incarcerated individuals of their housing registration.
As a result, they lose their right, once released, to move back into
their apartments. Moreover, in violation of existing laws, the state
does not provide released individuals with passports. Without these documents,
it is impossible to legally earn a living or find a new home.
 |
More
than 45% of our patients have temporary jobs. However, as
most of them have no documents, they can only find jobs that
offers no contracts, no guarantees, and poor pay.
|
|