Food insecurity and homelessness continue to plague many of the nation’s largest cities, according to a new report released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Across 22 of the cities surveyed — including Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; Philadelphia; and San Francisco — the amount of emergency food assistance increased by 3 percent between Sept. 1, 2014, and Aug. 31, 2015. In addition, homelessness increased across all of the cities by an average 1.6 percent over the same period.
Causes listed by the cities include low wages, poverty and high housing costs.
Across the cities surveyed, 23 percent of the demand for emergency food assistance was estimated to go unmet. Also in 57 percent of the cities, facilities had to turn away people because of lack of resources.
Sixty-five percent of the survey cities expect requests for emergency food assistance to increase moderately over the next year, while none of the cities expect a decrease in requests.
Meanwhile, 58 percent of the cities surveyed reported an increase in the total number of homeless persons. Though 42 percent did report a decrease, officials in 50 percent of the cities expect the number of homeless families to increase moderately next year.
Emergency shelters in 76 percent of the survey cities had to turn away homeless families with children because no beds were available, while shelters in 61 percent of the cities had to turn away unaccompanied individuals.
“Without question, the nation’s economy is in recovery. However, the slow pace of the recovery has put additional stress on cities and made it much more difficult to respond to the growing needs of hungry and homeless Americans,” Conference CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran said in a press telephone call Tuesday. “Every year, we report on these challenges and, every year, we reiterate the need for more services and greater capacity to help growing numbers of families in need. This year is no different.”
“We want to underscore that even with exemplary local programs in place to help those in need, the effects of hunger and homelessness are still felt by many families across the nation. Our federal policies must respond to the growing pressure that the national economy has placed on many localities,” Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider added.
Washington, D.C., was one of the cities struggling the most with hunger and homelessness, as one in three children in the city live in a household that struggles with hunger, one of the highest rates in the country. For example, 24 percent of the city’s need for emergency assistance went unmet. In terms of family homelessness, this number increased by 60 percent, while the number of homeless individuals increased by 11 percent over the past year. A lack of affordable housing was a leading cause of both hunger and homelessness.
Roughly 18.20 percent of persons living in D.C. live in poverty.
Other survey city statistics:
- Eight in 10 of those requesting food assistance in Asheville, N.C. are families.
- Roughly 40 percent of homeless adults in Baltimore are severely mentally ill.
- Though the number of homeless families decreased by 25 percent in Charleston, S.C. last year, the number of homeless individuals increased by 10 percent.
- Nearly one-fourth of peoeple living in Chicago are in poverty. The city’s population is nearly 2.8 million.
- More than one in three people in Cleveland live in poverty. City officials expect the number of homeless families, the number of homeless individuals and resources to provide emergency shelter to all stay at about the same level next year.
- The number of homeless individuals in Dallas, Texas increased by 50 percent.
- Seventy-eight percent of those requesting food assistance in Des Moines, Iowa are families. The city of 209,000 did however see a decrease in the number of homeless families (-9.1 percent) and homeless individuals (-0.6 percent).
- The number of homeless individuals in Los Angeles increased by 15.8 percent.
- Twenty-nine percent of homeless adults are severely mentally ill and 27 percent are physically disabled in Louisville, Kentucky. A lack of needed services was a top reported cause of individual homelessness.
- In McKinney, Texas — a city with a population of roughly 157,000 — 86 percent of the demand for shelter for the homeless went unmet.
- More than half (55 percent) of demand for food assistance went unmet in Memphis, Tenn. over the past year.
- In Nashville, Tenn., 29 percent of homeless adults are employed. Low wages and low paying jobs are reported causes of hunger and homelessness in the city of roughly 644,000, where 19.20 percent of persons are in poverty
- Among persons requesting food assistance in Philadelphia, 69 percent are in families, 61 percent are elderly and 55 percent are employed.
- Roughly 21 percent of the population of Norfolk, Va., is in poverty.
- Nearly 30 percent of Providence, R.I.’s population of179,154 is made up of persons in poverty.
- More than two-thirds of people requesting food assistance in Saint Paul, Minn. are employed.
- In Salt Lake City, Utah the number of homeless families increased by 1 percent and the number of homeless individuals increased by 2 percent over the past year.
- The number of homeless families in San Antonio, Texas increased by 19 percent, while city officials estimate 20 percent of the demand for shelter went unmet.
- In San Francisco, Calif., 47 percent of homeless adults are victims of domestic violence and 11 percent are HIV positive. The city had to expand shelters for LGBT adults to accommodate an increase in demand.
- Shelter demand increased so much in Santa Barbara, Calif., that shelters have “had to consistently have clients sleep on overflow cots, in chairs, in hallways, or other subpar sleeping arrangements.”
- All requests for food assistance in Seattle came from families.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is a non-partisan organization which helps influence policy for city leaders.
