Nonprofit organizations play a vital role in building healthy communities by providing critical services that contribute to economic stability and mobility. They also strengthen communities in other important ways. Frequently, nonprofit leaders are the voice of the people they serve, in this case, Smalltimore Homes advocates for those who are experiencing homelessness here in Baltimore.
It’s hard to know exactly how many people in Baltimore City experience homelessness.
In a report to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), city officials asserted that on any given night in 2017, 2,669 people experienced homelessness in Baltimore City.
BUT…
The Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Human Services acknowledges that the "point in time" methodology it uses to perform its count is “imperfect” and says it doesn’t “precisely reflect the actual number of homeless persons in the city.” The point in time methodology only counts sheltered residents of programs that participated in a city-issued survey. It counts only in certain areas of the city and during certain hours. It follows one of the narrowest definitions of homelessness set by HUD. And even under this definition, the number of people experiencing homelessness on a given night exceeds traditional shelter capacity.
Each year when the city performs its point in time count, it tallies more people than shelter beds.
Homelessness is an experience, not a characteristic. While the numbers behind the causes of homelessness don’t tell us exactly how many people experience homelessness in Baltimore City, they do explain why the economic landscape in Baltimore makes homelessness likely for so many.
The numbers behind the causes of homelessness help explain…
BALTIMORE IS POOR
HOUSING IN BALTIMORE IS EXPENSIVE
HEALTH INSURANCE HAS LIMITATIONS
For additional details visit the source: https://www.hchmd.org/homelessness-baltimore