Difficulty paying rent, forced to move often or live in crowded conditions to cover housing costs.
Staying in overnight shelters, transitional housing programs or safe havens.
Difficulty paying rent, being forced to move often or living in crowded conditions to cover
housing costs.
6%
'Someone Opened Them for Me. Why Wouldn’t I Open My Doors for
Someone Else?'
If you or someone you know is experiencing housing insecurity, these resources can help:
Veteran homelessness dropped by nearly half between 2010 and 2018
CG Chen created a chatbot that offers 24-hour and GPS-driven intel about food, shelter and drop-in services in Toronto.
BECOMING HOUSED
Why Native Americans in Seattle Disproportionately Live on the Streets
Editorial direction by Carly Stern
Design by Eva Rodriguez
Art direction by Sean Culligan
Edited by Nancy King
NO PLACE
LIKE HOME
Veterans' “villages” meant as transitional housing for former soldiers are cropping up in cities across Oregon, Wisconsin, Texas and Arizona.
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Staying in overnight shelters, transitional housing programs or
safe havens.
Percentage of U.S. population
13%
Unsheltered
Homeless now and for at least six months in the past year.
Seniors on the Street Are at High Risk of Violence. But There’s a Solution.
The U.S. homeless elderly population is projected to nearly triple by 2030
Read these stories to
learn about the problem
LGBTQ Youth
![]()
How to Solve Homelessness With Artificial Intelligence
Why Americans Are Retiring Into Homelessness
Mounting student debt and a nationwide housing crunch have led roughly 1 in 10 college students to experience homelessness, and universities are launching programs to fill the gaps.
Can Villages of Tiny Homes Help America’s Veterans Who
Are Homeless?
Living securely in a place meant for
human habitation.
Communities that face a heightened risk of becoming homeless
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
![]()
35%
1%
![]()
episodically homeless
Latinx
at or below the federal poverty level, with income of $25,750 for a family of four — facing a shortage of 7 million affordable rental homes, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Meanwhile, the country is reckoning with a public health epidemic of staggering proportions as swelling numbers of Americans are forced to live on the streets.
People fall into homelessness for a variety of reasons — whether through illness, loss of employment, domestic violence, death of a family wage earner or immigration. “No Place Like Home,” an OZY original series, captures the human faces and stories behind America’s homelessness crisis, investigates its underlying causes and spotlights viable, innovative solutions.
3%
*Percentages are estimates based on available data.
**For LGBTQ youth, the bars represent fractions of youth homelessness and total U.S. youth population.
Op-Ed: Why California Should Not Adopt New York’s ‘Right to Shelter’
As many as 1 in 10 adults over age 50 experiencing homelessness report being physically or sexually assaulted in the last six months.
Redlining, exclusionary zoning and mortgage discrimination have targeted
African Americans
41%
Currently homeless with at least three periods of homelessness in the past year.
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National Alliance to
End Homelessness
She Reveals Solutions for the
‘Hidden Homeless’
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Universities Begin Combating the Next Crisis: Homelessness on Campus
Homeless now and for at least six months in the past year.
The Latest Quick Fix for the Housing Crisis? Granny Flats
Struggling to Make Rent? For Middle-Class Millennials, Help Is on the Way
America’s Only Affordable Major City Has Lost Its Crown
Where Saving for a House Can Take 95 Years
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Why Native Americans in Seattle Disproportionately Live on the Streets
40%
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National Coalition for
the Homeless
HOUSED
Point Source Youth
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24%
![]()
Living on the street or in a place not intended for human habitation
(like a car).
Aly Fuentes moved into a Host Home, a national program model that offers short-term living arrangements for young people at risk of homelessness.
18%
M
Emergency Sheltered
Unsheltered
10%
Click the text below to explore the ways someone could move in and out of housing insecurity.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
VETERANS
HOUSING INSECURE
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The city’s mandate is a cautionary tale of good intentions when the priority should be development of low-income housing, argues Deborah Padgett.
The proportion of King County’s recorded homeless population that is Native American rose by two-thirds in just two years — because Native people were counted differently.
Chronically homeless
BECOMING HOUSED
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RELATED READING:
She Reveals Solutions for the
‘Hidden Homeless’
Read these stories to LEARN ABOUT the problem
Universities Begin Combating the Next Crisis: Homelessness on Campus
Read these stories to
explore solutions
Read about homelessness
- CG Chen, Ample Labs
M
NATIVE AMERICAN/
Alaska native
“How do you find people who are hidden? They’re hidden for a reason.”
22%
![]()
Homelessness can strike anyone — and will be a defining issue of our time.
African Americans
Seniors on the Street Are at High Risk of Violence. But There’s a Solution.
Why Native Americans in Seattle Disproportionately Live on the Streets
Read these stories to EXPLORE SOLUTIONS
Sources: HUD, U.S. Census, The Williams Institute, The Trevor Project, UCSF, University of Chicago
Chronically homeless
HOUSED
Op-Ed: Why California Should Not Adopt New York’s ‘Right to Shelter’
PLACE LIKE
She Reveals Solutions for the ‘Hidden Homeless’
Browse more related OZY coverage:
‘Someone Opened Them for Me. Why Wouldn’t I Open My Doors for Someone Else?’
Currently homeless with at least three periods of homelessness in the past year.
Living on the street or in a place not intended for human habitation (like a car).
MARCH 12, 2019
40%
Emergency Sheltered
She Reveals Solutions for the
‘Hidden Homeless’
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Ways to get involved in
your community:
Percentage of U.S. population
experiencing homelessness
Seniors On the Street Are At High Risk of Violence. But There’s a Solution.
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Can Villages of Tiny Homes Help America’s Veterans Who Are Homeless?
People with disabilities
episodically homeless
ore than a decade after the Great Recession, the U.S. is battling twin emergencies: a housing affordability crisis and unprecedented homeless counts. Middle- and low-income Americans are the hardest hit, with extremely low-income renters — who live at or below the federal poverty level, with income of $25,750 for a family of four — facing a shortage of 7 million affordable rental homes, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Meanwhile, the country is reckoning with a public health epidemic of staggering proportions as swelling numbers of Americans are forced to live on the streets.
9%
3x as likely to
experience homelessness
- Jennifer Friedenbach, Coalition on Homelessness
SHARE ON SOCIAL
'Someone Opened Them for Me. Why Wouldn’t I Open My Doors for Someone Else?'
Universities Begin Combating the Next Crisis: Homelessness on Campus
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Why Native Americans in Seattle Disproportionately Live on the Streets
Latinx people drove half of the U.S. population growth between 2016
and 2017
LGBTQ youth face more than 2x the risk of homelessness compared to non-LGBTQ youth**
Op-Ed: Why California Should Not Adopt New York’s ‘Right to Shelter’
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“Homelessness is a state, not a trait.”
Unsheltered
Adults
OVER 50
13%
A deep dive into the many facets, and faces, of homelessness in America
Can Villages of Tiny Homes Help America’s Veterans Who
Are Homeless?
Living securely in a place meant for
human habitation.
Covenant House
Continuous access to housing that’s affordable based on income.
Can Villages of Tiny Homes Help America’s Veterans Who
Are Homeless?
Seniors on the Street Are at High Risk of Violence. But There’s a Solution.
People with disabilities make up 42 percent of people in shelters
Op-Ed: Why California Should Not Adopt New York’s ‘Right
to Shelter’
HUD Exchange
'Someone Opened Them for Me. Why Wouldn’t I Open My Doors for
Someone Else?'
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HOUSING INSECURE
National Coalition for the Homeless Directory
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10%
40%
Universities Begin Combating the Next Crisis: Homelessness on Campus
41%
