Photo Credit: Max Breiteneicher
The number of people who experience rural homelessness is unknown, but the last national count of homeless people found that 9 percent of homeless people live in rural areas. Moreover, 19 percent of rural children live in poverty (compared with a national rate of 17 percent). Rural areas are defined as a parish or county having 20,000 people or fewer.
Core Assumptions for Ending Rural Homelessness
1. In addition to substandard housing, insufficient income, high rates of poverty, and unemployment are the leading causes of rural homelessness.
2. Rural homelessness is most dramatic in areas that experience high economic growth, thus driving up housing costs.
3. The existing infrastructure of homeless service providers is limited in rural areas as opposed to urban areas.
4. Homeless people in rural areas tend to be homeless for shorter periods of time but are less likely to have health insurance and access to medical care than their urban cohorts.
5. There are numerous barriers to serving rural homeless people, including a negligible amount of available affordable housing, limited transportation methods, and the Federal Government’s priority on urban areas.
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