According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than 653,000 people were homeless in the U.S. in JanuaryThat's a 12% increase from a year ago, also since the authorities began collecting data in 2007Highest record.
In January, it was reported that there were about 6530,000 people were left homeless. This is the highest number in the United States since 2007, when the annual point-in-time survey was used to count the homeless population. The total number of homeless people increased by about 70,650 compared to January 2022.
Among them, the number of California homeless people is 181,399, which is still the highest in the United States, but the increase is lower than that of New York, Florida, Colorado and Massachusetts.
It is understood that in the overall increase, individual homelessness increased by nearly 11% and veterans increased by 74%, and the number of households with children increased by 155%。
Blacks make up only 13 percent of the U.S. population, but make up 37 percent of all homelessness. More than a quarter of homeless adults are over the age of 54.
Rep. and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge said in a statement: "These data underscore the urgent need to support proven solutions and strategies to help people emerge quickly from homelessness and prevent homelessness in the first place." ”
The U.S. has been working to reduce homelessness in recent years, and steady progress has been made in the early years, with a particular focus on increasing investment in housing for veterans. The number of homeless people increased from about 63 in 201070,000 people, down to about 55 in 201740,000 people.
That number rose to about 580,000 in 2020 and remained relatively stable over the next two years as Congress responded to the coronavirus pandemic through emergency rent assistance, stimulus payments, state and local** assistance, and a temporary moratorium on evictions.
But 2023 has set a new record, with 653,100 homeless people.
In a community in Escombia County, Florida, the most serious problem has been the occupation of private homes by homeless people, causing complaints and dissatisfaction among residents.
A large number of homeless people set up tents in an open space in the community, where they openly defecated, used drugs, and even got into fights, and the open space was littered with garbage.
Gwen Gibson, a resident of the community, said that due to frequent contact with law enforcement, some homeless people would stare at Gibson when she went out, and there were even unidentified men armed with machetes standing near her home.
In California, 71,320 people in Los Angeles County are homeless, just below New York City's 88,025. San Diego County ranks 5th in the U.S. with 10,264 homeless people. Orange County, San Bernardine and Riverside counties are also in the top 10. California accounts for 27% of the country's total, which means that one out of every three homeless people in the country is in California.
It's everywhere on the streets, and even if billions of dollars have been poured into local** aid, little has been done. After interviewing thousands of homeless people in California, reports of many have been displaced due to drug use, mental illness, and low income.
And in New York, the problem of homeless people has overwhelmed the city. Last year, Mayor Adams announced at the Fulton Street Transit Center in Manhattan a new plan to clean up the subway system by cracking down on violations and preventing people from living in subways and stations, but it appears to have had little success.
The head of Chase Bank even said that the bank has begun closing some round-the-clock ATMs in New York City at 5 or 6 p.m. due to the rising crime rate and the number of homeless people in New York City.
The ubiquitous homeless people have also caused a lot of social problems.
On September 22, 2023, a 63-year-old handyman at a bagel shop in New York, USA, kindly gave food to a homeless man in front of the store, but unexpectedly angered him, and the two scuffled on the street, and finally the handyman was injured and sent to the hospital.
Surveillance showed the homeless man holding a chair above his head in what appeared to be threatening the restaurant's handyman, and a scuffle ensued, with the homeless man picking up a brick and throwing it in his face before fleeing. The 63-year-old handyman was taken to a central New York hospital with a nose injury and bruises on his wrist.
On June 18, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom was suspected to have been attacked by a homeless man while visiting a shop in Old Street in Oakland, when Newsom and his entourage crossed the red street light intersection and past Washington Street to prepare for a planned pizzeria. A black man suddenly threw a water bottle at him.
On August 9, 2020, an 8-year-old Chinese American child in New York, USA, was beaten by an African-American homeless man on the subway platform by riding the subway with his mother from the Upper West Side to the Lower City in Manhattan.
The child's mother said that after the incident, well-wishers immediately called the police, hoping to calm down the situation on the grounds that the child was not injured, but she insisted on filing a case, and said, "But in addition to being injured and killed, the crime also includes the feeling of being violated, and the New York City government should increase its control." ”