Welcome to Family Promise - Salt Lake
(formerly Salt Lake Interfaith Hospitality Network)
The New Face of Homelessness: Young Children and Young Families
Families with children constitute the fastest growing segment of the homeless population nationwide. According to The National Alliance to End Homelessness over 100,000 families are homeless on any given night. Every year, more than 600,000 families with 1.5 million children experience homelessness. These parents and children comprise over 50% of the homeless population.
Those of us who serve the homeless population in the Salt Lake Valley saw a 57% increase in the number of homeless families with children in the fall of 2007 from the year before. And this last fall we saw an additional 40% from 2007. Family homelessness is a startling and growing epidemic in our community.
At a February 2009 conference on ending family homelessness, the National Alliance to End Homelessness reported an expected 30% increase nationally in homelessness with an as many as 12 million people living "precariously housed," i.e. doubled up in violation of rental leases or living out of motels.
What's Causing This Trend?
The main cause cited for this alarming rise in family homelessness is the increasing disparity between wages and the cost of housing. Low-income renters or even homeowners, are often one paycheck, or calamity, away from homelessness.
The loss of a job, an increase in rent, a sudden illness, or the absence of family support can each turn children and their parents out on the street. From there, families may be divided because some programs serve only single men, or mothers with young children; at a family's darkest hour, they are often forced to separate in order to secure emergency shelter. Imagine the fear and humiliation felt by both parents and children.
The Family Promise - Salt Lake mission is to help homeless families achieve lasting self-sufficiency.
Family Promise - Salt Lake is an affiliate of Family Promise.