I recently asked some of our grant recipients to help me define the face of homelessness after my previous post about our struggle with this concept. Here is a description from Bill Bickel, Director of Holy Family Services in Indianapolis:

"A common question we hear at Holy Family Shelter is the following: “Who is typically homeless?” We are quick to point out that no longer is the “typical homeless” those we usually saw just a few years ago – families who have generationally been at the lowest end of the poverty scale. Today, due to the nation’s economic, employment and housing crisis, homeless families who were previously part of the middle and lower-middle class are arriving here at Holy Family Shelter at an alarming rate. And while this demographic is changing, one sad statistic remains: The average age of an individual living at Holy Family Shelter is nine years old. Therefore, of the more than 1,000 homeless individuals we serve each year, the face of homelessness we see most often has names like Susie, Antonio, Jimmy, and Kayla."

What about you? How do you define 'the face of homelessness'? Would love to get your feedback - please share.

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