Why Are People Homeless?
Taken from the NCH Fact Sheet #1
Published by the National Coalition for the Homeless

Fill in the blanks:

Two trends are largely responsible for the __________ 

in _______________ over the past 15-20 years: 

•	a growing _____________ of affordable 

________ __________ and a

•	simultaneous __________ in ____________. 

Two factors help account for 
increasing poverty: 

•	eroding ______________ opportunities 

for large ____________ of the workforce, & 

•	the declining _____________________

 of public assistance. 

POVERTY

________________ and poverty are inextricably linked. 

Poor people are frequently unable to pay for_________, 

food, _________, health care, and education. Difficult 

_________ must be made when limited ____________ 

cover only some of these necessities. Often it is

 ____________, which absorbs a high proportion of 

income, that must be dropped. Being poor means

 being an illness, an accident, or a _____________

 away from living on the ____________. 

HOUSING

A lack of affordable _____________ and the limited scale of 

housing assistance _________________have contributed to the 

current housing crisis and to _______________. 

The ______ between the number of affordable housing units and 

the number of people needing them has created a housing 

______ for poor people. Between 1973 and 1993, 2.2 million low-

rent units disappeared from the market. 

OTHER FACTORS
Other major factors which can contribute to homelessness include the following: 

•	Lack of Affordable _______________

•	_________________: Battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and _______________

•	________________: Approximately 20-25% of the single adult homeless population suffer from some form of severe and persistent mental illness 

•	________________. Not everyone who is homeless is addicted and homelessness cannot be explained by addiction alone.

CONCLUSION
Homelessness results from a complex set of 

________________________ which require people to choose 

between food, ________________, and other ________________. 

Only a concerted effort to ensure jobs that pay a 

___________________, adequate support for those who cannot 

work, affordable _______________________, and access to 

_________________ will bring an end to homelessness.