Hunger and homelessness
at record levels in US cities
A report by the US Conference of Mayors

24 December 2009: In the last year, US cities have seen the sharpest increase in the demand for hunger assistance since 1991, an increase in family homelessness and a decrease or levelling in individual homelessness. “At this time of historic economic crisis, the issues of hunger and homelessness in America are more prevalent than ever. Cities are the front lines where these effects are felt first, which is why mayors have been proactive in implementing local initiatives in their communities to take care of our most vulnerable residents,” said Sacramento (CA) Mayor Kevin Johnson.

| Main findings | Hunger | Homelessness | Tent cities |

For more than 23 years, the US Conference of Mayors has documented the magnitude of the issues of hunger and homelessness in the nation’s cities, as well as efforts cities are making to address these challenges. The 2009 report ‘Hunger and Homelessness in US Cities’ which covers the period 1 October 2008 to 30 September 2009, shows the impact of rising unemployment and housing costs as well as low wages on America’s most vulnerable sections of urban society.

Main findings
• A sharp increase in the need for hunger assistance over the past year. On average, cities reported a 26 per cent increase in the demand for assistance, the largest average increase since 1991.
• An increase in requests from middle class households that used to donate to food pantries, as well as increases in requests from families and from people who are uninsured, elderly, working poor, or homeless. People also are visiting food pantries and emergency kitchens more often.
• A large increase in the amount of food distributed over the past year was driven by both increased supply -- federal assistance from the stimulus package -- and increased need. Growing demand has caused food banks to distribute more and stockpile less.
• Despite the recession, 16 cities, 64 per cent of respondents, reported a leveling or decrease in the number of homeless individuals over the past year. This is an indication of the success of policies aimed at ending chronic homelessness among single adults with disabilities.
• Nineteen cities, 76 per cent of respondents, reported an increase in family homelessness. Cities attributed the increase in family homelessness to the recession and a lack of affordable housing.
• Only ten cities reported having homeless ‘tent cities’ or other large homeless encampments and even within these cities they account for a very small per centage of people who are homeless.
• Eighteen cities, 72 per cent of respondents, reported that the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP), funded through the stimulus, will ‘fundamentally change the way [their] community provides services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness’. Cities are using HPRP funding to develop central intake systems for homeless services, coordinate services more closely with surrounding areas, or offer homeless prevention assistance for the first time.

Hunger
Cities were nearly unanimous in reporting an increase in the need for emergency food assistance. Every city surveyed except for Miami reported that the number of requests for emergency food assistance increased over the past year. The number of requests for food assistance increased by an average of 26 per cent; this is the largest average increase observed in the survey in the last 18 years. Half of the cities surveyed reported that demand for assistance increased by 30 per cent or more. Minneapolis reported a 49 per cent increase in requests for assistance within Hennepin County, the highest of any city surveyed. When asked what were the three main causes of hunger in their cities, unemployment was cited by 92 per cent of cities surveyed, followed by high housing costs (60 per cent), and low wages (48 per cent)

Twenty-two of 23 cities reported an increase in the number of people requesting food assistance for the first time. In Des Moines, 3,781 families requested assistance for the first time during the past year. Nashville reported a 74 per cent increase in first-time requests, Seattle reported a 30 per cent increase, and Los Angeles and Detroit reported 10-15 per cent increases. Other cities responded that anecdotally there had been an increase in first-time requests but they were not able to provide statistics.

Not only were more people using food assistance, they were also visiting food pantries and emergency kitchens more often. Fourteen out of 17 cities reported an increase in the frequency that persons visit food pantries and/or emergency kitchens each month. Providence, Rhode Island reports that people used to coordinate their pantry visits with food stamp distributions. Now people are coming back sooner because their food stamps do not go as far due to the rising costs of food. In Charlotte, food pantries reduced their mandatory wait time between visits from 60 days to 30 days. Nashville reports an increase in the frequency of visits by the elderly and people with special needs.

The overall demand for emergency food assistance that went unmet rose from 20 per cent in 2008 to 25 per cent in 2009. Los Angeles reported that 1.2 million people needed food assistance each month, but food banks served 250,000 people each month, meaning that 79 per cent of those in need did not receive assistance. Philadelphia reported 45 per cent unmet need because of cutbacks food pantries have had to make in the amount of food each client received. Boston reported an unmet need of 25 per cent based in part on a survey of providers, which found that 47 per cent of Massachusetts food pantries ran out of food at some point in the past year. In Dallas, the North Texas Food Bank found that there is a gap of 29 million meals between what those in poverty were able to access and what they actually needed. The Food Bank has made it its mission to close this gap by Fiscal Year 2011.

When asked what three things their city needed to reduce hunger, 18 cities cited a needed for more employment training programs, 18 cities chose more affordable housing and 12 cities chose an increase in food stamp payments. The per centage of cities that said that more job training programs are necessary to reduce hunger rose from 32 per cent in 2008 to 72 per cent in 2009. Among the responses that cities wrote in for an “Other” category were greater access to grocery stores for people in low-income neighborhoods, more federal funding for food assistance, health care reform, and a simplification of food stamp eligibility requirements. US Cities anticipate having a difficult time meeting the high demand for food assistance in 2010 because of high unemployment and high costs of living. City officials also worry about the impact of state and local budget cuts, a decrease in donations from grocery stores, and an increase in the cost of food.

Homelessness
Apart from Los Angeles, Louisville and Charlotte, all cities taking part in the research reported an increase in the number of homeless families over the past year and a decrease or leveling in the number of homeless single adults. This is a continuation of national trends reported in the latest US Annual Homeless Assessment Report, which found a 2 per cent drop in the number of sheltered homeless individuals from 2007 to 2008, and an 8 per cent increase in the number of sheltered homeless persons in families.

San Francisco, Sacramento, Nashville, Dallas, Boston, Kansas City, and Charleston all reported double-digit increases in family homelessness. Most cities blamed the recession, specifically the rise in unemployment and foreclosures, for the increase in family homelessness. Salt Lake City attributed the increase in part to the breakup of polygamous sects. Norfolk officials said the increase in homelessness in their city started before the recession when Ford closed its plant there in 2007. Charleston said that their 41 per cent increase in homeless families may be the result of capturing more comprehensive data on homeless shelter use rather than an actual increase in the number of homeless families.

Portland, Providence, and Seattle reported that the number of homeless families stayed the same over the past year. Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Trenton all reported slight increases in the number of families using shelter over the past year but because their homeless programs were all operating at capacity there was very little slack for their system to absorb an increase in demand.  When asked to give the three main causes of family homelessness in their cities, twenty cities (74 per cent) identified a lack of affordable housing, 14 cities (52 per cent) cited poverty, 12 cities (44 per cent) cited unemployment and 12 cities cited domestic violence.

Homelessness among single adults decreased or stayed the same for 16 out of the 25 cities (64 per cent) on the Task Force with available data.13 This result is consistent with the findings of the 2008 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR), which found a slight decrease in the total number of sheltered individuals from 2007 to 2008. Gastonia, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles all reported double digit declines in individual homelessness over the last year. Gastonia reported a 42 per cent decrease in individual homelessness, the largest decline of any city in the survey. However, city officials estimate that at least half of the decline is explained by a change in their methodology for counting the homeless. In previous years, agencies had included people who were precariously housed and living with friends or family in their annual homeless count. In 2009, to be compliant with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) definition of homelessness, only people living in emergency shelter, transitional housing, or on the street were included in the count.

Detroit, Charlotte, Charleston, Norfolk, and Nashville all reported double-digit increases in homelessness. The top three identified causes of homelessness among individuals were lack of affordable housing and substance abuse, both cited by 18 cities (67 per cent of respondents), and unemployment, cited by 14 cities (52 per cent). Last year only 28 per cent of cities regarded unemployment as one of the top causes of individual homelessness.

Tent cities
Detroit, Los Angeles, Nashville, Charleston, and Providence all reported that new tent cities or other large homeless encampments have arisen over the past year. Des Moines, Phoenix, Sacramento, and Seattle all report that their existing tent cities or homeless encampments have increased in size over the past year. Portland reports that it has large homeless encampments but they have not increased in size over the past year. The other 17 cities reported that they did not have tent cities or other large homeless encampments.

In Des Moines, the city has ceased enforcing restrictions against homeless encampments unless there are a high volume of complaints; believing that the encampments are less disruptive if they stay in one place than if they are continuously rousted and establish themselves in other areas. Portland has a tent city sanctioned by the city and managed by a non-profit organization. Homeless advocates are urging the creation of a second tent city to increase the visibility of the homeless problem and make it easier to provide services. Seattle also has a tent city officially sanctioned by the government.

Relatively few homeless people live in tent cities or other large encampments. Los Angeles estimates that 1,534 people live in homeless encampments. Sacramento estimates that roughly 900 single adults and 100 families are living in tent cities. Nashville and Des Moines each has approximately 200-250 people living in tent cities. Providence has one tent city with roughly 30 single adults. Seattle has one city-sanctioned tent city with 100 beds.

Sacramento reports that, although large, visible tent cities receive the most media attention, most encampments are small and in secluded areas. A survey of residents of tent cities in Sacramento found that most were middle-aged men with disabilities who had been homeless for over a year. Two thirds of respondents said they preferred to live in the tent city rather than use the local hypothermia shelter, but 94 per cent said that they would leave the tent city if offered permanent housing with voluntary services.

City officials were torn about the proper response to tent cities. On the one hand these encampments are politically embarrassing, unhygienic, and potentially dangerous. On the other hand, bringing the unsheltered homeless into the open can make it easier to provide services and permanent housing to a group that is often reluctant to seek or accept assistance. In Sacramento, 70 out of 130 people living in their largest tent city have moved into permanent housing.