The sky is high and clouds are white, like summertime; tents burst into small green spaces as mushrooms in the woods. Despite lots of investments and efforts and some success, the number of homeless people remains high in DC. The estimate of homeless individuals per 10,000 people for DC is 90.4 in 2020, higher than any state. Though inflows from VA and MD contribute to DC’s number, the number makes DC’s goal of eliminating homelessness by 2025 look very ambitious. Read more
The city has sufficient shelter beds for everyone who wants it, according to the Health and Human Services officials. But shelters are not homes. Many prefer the streets citing safety and freedom as reasons. Living on the street is not without perils: they are still subject to violence and theft, are vulnerable to cleanups and may loose their meager belongings. Some encampments, those at the underpasses in the NoMa neighborhood (right next to the spacious, bright lighted REI store), for example, look crowded and dirty. Recently I spotted new trash bins and toilets installed on the encampment sites.
Everyone who ends up in the street has a sad story. It can be misfortune: loss of a job and consequently home due to health issues and debts. When one looses “track records” and doesn’t have an address to put on job applications, it is hard to get back. If somebody stays long on the street, it could become a habit. Veterans have a good share of the homeless. Some have mental illness. For a few, it may be a “better” life. After all, it’s not that outrageous to ask: is it worth all your time and energy to earn so low a minimum wage that it doesn’t even pay rent, if you have some sort of talent? These different paths leading to the streets imply different approaches needed to address the problem. But overall there is no easy solution – homelessness is rooted in poverty largely due to macro economic processes, and has much to do with social welfares, values, and culture.
Homelessness is not unique to DC and is primarily an urban issue. New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle are among the cities with most homeless people. An increase in homeless young people (students) is also noted. In 2020, there were about 580,466 homeless people in the country. The number started to increase in the last two years following steady decreases since 2007; the highest increase between 2018 and 2019 was found in New Mexico.
An anecdote: in Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city, I had seen people carry a bag around; they would lie down to sleep under a shade and wake up to pick up the bag and walk on. Some had a dog, but none of them had a cell phone. It felt like a different country.
Numbers and data are from statista.com
Homeless encampments seem to follow similar spatial patterns as urban sprawl: expanding around existent structures (especially near service centers), spreading along roads, and leapfrogging to a new location. Two examples below illustrate these growth mechanisms; both sites are within a short walking distance to Miriam’s Kitchen.
