Provides year-to-year trend info. that explores changes in the patterns of homelessness over time. Focuses on two types of national estimates of homelessness. Point-in-time estimates provide the total number of sheltered and un-sheltered homeless persons on a single-night in January. Also provides one-year estimates of the total sheltered population. The one-year estimates account for persons who used a homeless residential program at any time during a 12-month period. The report compares one-year estimates for 2007 and 2008. This report comes at a time of economic uncertainty and provides a few early indicators of how the economic downturn may be affecting the housing situation of low-income and vulnerable Americans. Illus.

Chronic homelessness is a highly complex social problem of national importance. The problem has elicited a variety of societal and public policy responses over the years, concomitant with fluctuations in the economy and changes in the demographics of and attitudes toward poor and disenfranchised citizens. In recent decades, federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the philanthropic community have worked hard to develop and implement programs to solve the challenges of homelessness, and progress has been made. However, much more remains to be done. Importantly, the results of various efforts, and especially the efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans in recent years, have shown that the problem of homelessness can be successfully addressed. Although a number of programs have been developed to meet the needs of persons experiencing homelessness, this report focuses on one particular type of intervention: permanent supportive housing (PSH). Permanent Supportive Housing focuses on the impact of PSH on health care outcomes and its cost-effectiveness. The report also addresses policy and program barriers that affect the ability to bring the PSH and other housing models to scale to address housing and health care needs.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Provides year-to-year trend information that explores changes in the patterns of homelessness over time. This year¿s Annual Assessment Report (AHAR) is delivered at a critical moment ¿- as the Federal government continues to shift its focus toward preventing homelessness and on the eve of the first-ever federal plan to end homelessness. The 2009 AHAR captures a large portion of the economic crisis in its reporting period. It provides real evidence that the economic downturn is impacting the housing stability of low-income and vulnerable Americans -- as we see a rise in family homelessness for the second consecutive year. This year¿s report allows for a comparative analysis of homelessness that spans three years ¿ 2007, 2008, and 2009.

Women come to Magdalene House in Nashville when they are ready to leave the streets. They live together--unsupervised and free of charge--for two years. During that time, the women are given time, space, and the resources they need to heal from what have often been lifelong experiences with suffering. (Of the twenty-two women now in residence, 80 percent have a diagnosed mental illness other than addiction, 40 percent are receiving treatment for hepatitis C, and one-third are HIV positive.) However, the story of the Magdalene community is not about these statistics, but about the stories the women tell. They say they thrive in the community because it is a place where they are free to be themselves, safe to give and receive love, and free to speak their truth--even to complain sometimes about how their storytelling is exploited "for the good of the community." A Place about Mercy is a participant-observation account of the history of this remarkable community founded in 1997, its structure, its Thistle Farms beauty products operation, and Reverend Becca Stevens's communal and spiritual vision. The book is finally about what it means to walk the path of healing with a group of unlikely women as guide. Magdalene House was the subject of a multiple-part documentary on National Public Radio.

There have always been homeless people in the United States, but their plight has only recently stirred widespread public reaction and concern. Part of this new recognition stems from the problem's prevalence: the number of homeless individuals, while hard to pin down exactly, is rising. In light of this, Congress asked the Institute of Medicine to find out whether existing health care programs were ignoring the homeless or delivering care to them inefficiently. This book is the report prepared by a committee of experts who examined these problems through visits to city slums and impoverished rural areas, and through an analysis of papers written by leading scholars in the field.