June, 25 2009, 11:23am EDT
National Survey Finds Foreclosures Adding To Homeless Crisis
WASHINGTON
A partnership of national
homeless organizations, including the National Coalition for the Homeless, the
National Health Care for the Homeless Council, the National Alliance to End
Homelessness, the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children
and Youth, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, the National Low
Income Housing Coalition, and the National Policy and Advocacy Council on
Homelessness; have release a joint report on the impact of the foreclosure and
economic crises and the unprecedented growth in the number of individuals and
families left without a home in the United States.
In a national survey of homeless
service and advocacy agencies conducted by the these groups, 79 percent of
respondents stated that at least some of their clients were homeless as a
result of foreclosure, and about half estimated that more than ten percent of
their clients were homeless because of foreclosure on a home they had been
occupying.
During 2008, RealtyTrac reported
3,157,806 foreclosure filings -- default notices, auction sale notices and bank
repossessions, an 81 percent jump from 2007 and a 225 percent increase from
2006.
"We are one step away from
foreclosure. More and more families and children are affected by job loss and
the economy. 'Getting back on your feet' is next to impossible in today's
society. The public needs to be made aware of who is becoming homeless... and
that they could be next - just like any average family," an individual
respondent to the national survey from North Carolina reported.
The study found that there are many
interrelated consequences of the economic downturn that lead to both home
foreclosure and to homelessness. There
is an increased need for affordable housing, as well as targeted legal
assistance, health care, living-wage jobs, income supports, access to
education, civil rights protections and the various supports that will continue
to be needed as a result of the recession.
John Parvensky, Board of Directors President for the
National Coalition for the Homeless and Executive Director of the Colorado Coalition
for the Homeless states, "This report underscores the fact that we as a
nation need to strengthen our efforts to prevent homelessness resulting from
this economic crisis, while creating sufficient new affordable rental housing
to ensure that no family in America has to experience the tragedy of
homelessness."
The Press Conference will be part of the plenary session of
the 2009 National Health Care for the Homeless Conference and Policy Symposium,
on Friday morning, June 26, in the Regency Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency
Washington Hotel on Capitol Hill, 400
New Jersey Ave, NW. 700 registrants from around the country will
be in attendance. See https://www.nhchc.org/2009conference/2009conference.html.
The Press event will include the
following scheduled speakers:
9:30am -- Release of Foreclosure
to Homelessness 2009 the Forgotten Victims of the Subprime Crisis
*
John Lozier- Executive Director National Health Care for the Homeless Council
*
Donna Smith, Community Organizer, California Nurses
Association. Her story was featured in the movie Sicko.
*
John Parvensky, JD, President, National
Coalition for the Homeless and Executive Director, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
*
Introduction of Representatives of collaborating
national homeless organizations.
*
U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison
A question and answer period will
immediately follow the presentation in the Bunker Hill
room of the Hyatt Regency Washington Hotel.
The official release of the
Foreclosure to Homelessness report will follow the Press Conference. The report will be made available Friday morning at www.nationalhomeless.org.
National Coalition for the Homeless is a national network of people who are currently experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, activists and advocates, community-based and faith-based service providers, and others committed to a single mission: To end and prevent homelessness while ensuring the immediate needs of those experiencing homelessness are met and their civil rights are respected and protected. We envision a world where everyone has a safe, decent, accessible and affordable home.
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