The Changing Face of Homelessness

Today's global financial crisis has spawned massive dislocations of many new and surprising types. The current economic downturn, unlike others in the past, is hurting not just the already-poor but also people who were considered safe and well off. Once mighty banks have been brought low -- or destroyed. And millions of people who were living the American dream -- as homeowners -- are heading for the street.

The images of homelessness -- sunken-cheeked men railing against imaginary voices -- now include the specter of the family next door -- former homeowners and the recently unemployed. These once middle-class folks now have been tossed into desperation by the international credit crunch.

And much of it is happening in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol.

Raymond Winbush, an unemployed emergency-room technician who likes to read Shakespeare, looks at the other homeless men at the Central Union Mission in Northwest and wonders aloud how his life has come to this.

"I was raised with the idea that if you had a job, that if you did it well ... you could make it. You didn't need to worry," says Mr. Winbush, 61, who said he left a steady job at the Maimonides Medical Center in New York to help his sister in Virginia Beach.

Realizing he could not help save her home from foreclosure on the low wages paid in the Tidewater area, Mr. Winbush headed to the District to find work at one of the city's many hospitals.

He said Howard University Hospital made an offer but couldn't follow through with a job because of financial reasons. Attempts to find work at Georgetown University, Providence and Sibley Memorial hospitals resulted in similar outcomes.

"This is the first time in my life where I can't find a job," says Mr. Winbush, who keeps his interview clothes and other belongings in a rented storage locker. "I don't know what's going on. Every time I get close, something happens and I have to start all over again."

This came from the "Washington Post"
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/
dec/14/changing-face-of-homelessness

News and Events

In the Media: Family Homelessness

On August 14, McClatchy Newspapers published a story about the economy's effect on the number of students receiving free or reduced cost meals at their public schools. The McClatchy story examines the relationship of homeless families with schools and the rate at which students are enrolling into a reduced cost or free meal program. The article suggests that there may be record enrollment in these programs, which may indicate rising homelessness and financial pressures on families. The article also examines how schools, struggling under tightened budgets while trying to accommodate the needs of children in their classroom, try to provide sufficient funding for nutrition programs in their school while working to convince the federal government to increase overall funding for these programs.

Since the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) outlining the rates of homelessness over the course of the last year, the media has paid noticeably more attention to both family and youth homelessness. In fact, in just the last 10 days, the Washington Post has run three pieces about homelessness, including a story about the "new face of homelessness," profiling an African American single mother and her children.

NHCHC Launches Health Care for the Homeless 101 Online Course

As part of its continuing education programs, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC) recently announced "Health Care for the Homeless 101 Online," a introductory course providing information on homeless health care. The course, sponsored by NHCHC and the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, includes audio presentations, first-person interviews with Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) consumers, clinicians, and administrators. The course can be taken in one of two formats: the self-paced version and the schedule-based version, which allows participants to earn 7 hours of Continuing Medical Education / Continuing Education (CME/CE) credits. The schedule-based version of the course opens on September 1, but the self-paced version is available now. The online course is designed for shelter staff, health professions students, federal employees, and volunteers who are new to HCH.

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