Homelessness

Courtney Knoll - Supportive Housing Program Director at Avivo - joins Stan and Clarence in chatting about homelessness.

Courtney has over 15 years of experience working in housing insecurity. Her past experiences - including case management, policy, and program management - offer a broad perspective on this issue.

As always, Join the conversation by leaving comments and reviews on our new website healthchatterpodcast.com

Brought to you in support of Hue-MAN, who is Creating Healthy Communities through Innovative Partnerships. More about their work can be found at http://huemanpartnership.org/

Research

• 5 Reasons people are homeless in Minnesota: https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2018/01/start-knowing-why-5-reasons-people-are-homeless-minnesota/?gclid=CjwKCAiA8OmdBhAgEiwAShr4023LTVMv8qPCu0AWMBwNuETyS2B73yMOFgRYIyRAB1ml1sWqtUw62hoCVp4QAvD_BwE

1. Lack of affordable housing 
2. Lack of employment 
3. Chronic health conditions 
4. Histories of abuse and violence 
5. Discriminatory housing policies and other systemic inequities

• Stats of homelessness in MN https://www.wilder.org/mnhomeless/results?gclid=CjwKCAiA8OmdBhAgEiwAShr408Y7ShkUJ
• • 19,600 homeless in MN in 2018
  • 50,600 new homeless that year in MN
  • Increased by 10% from 2015-2018
  • Increase is greatest in metro area (93% increase) than in greater MN (36% increase) 
  • 32% oof respondents had been turned away from shelter in the previous 3 months due to lack of space 
  • 33% reported they stayed the night on a bus, on a light rail train, in a bus or transit station or at a highway rest top in the previous year 
  • 13% of adults experiencing homelessness had no income during the month of the study; 76% made less than $1,000.
  • Adults experiencing homelessness reported a median income of $550 during the month of the study ($600 in the Twin Cities metro area and $500 in greater Minnesota). This is less than the 2018 fair market rent of $864 per month for a one-bedroom apartment in the Twin Cities and $576 per month in greater Minnesota.
  • Half of homeless adults are on a waiting list for subsidized housing; the average wait time is 12 months.
  • Most homeless adults (77%) have had multiple experiences with homelessness, and many adults have experienced repeated homelessness starting from an early age. More than half (52%) of those surveyed first became homeless by the time they were age 24, and over one-third (36%) first became homeless at or before age 18.
  • When asked whether they had experienced any of seven different adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), the majority (73%) of homeless adults had experienced at least one, and over half (59%) reported multiple ACEs. These experiences have the added negative effect of hastening entry into homelessness.
  • 46 $ of parents experiencing homelessness reported that at least one of their children had to change schools because of their housing situation 
  • 43% of parents reported that at least one of their children had learning problems that required additional services 
  • 81% of adults have  a chronic physical health condition (57%), serious mental illness (64%) or substance use disorder (24%)
    • 50% of these adults have co-occurrences 
• Homelessness Stigma 
• Resources/ What can we do?
  • https://nationalhomeless.org/taking-action/get-involved/
    • CARE: Contribute, advocate, reach out (volunteering), educate