Health Care for the Homeless is committed to educating health providers, policy makers and the public about poverty in general and the health-related needs of people experiencing homeless in particular. Through relationships with institutions of higher learning, HCH provides valuable internship experience for students of medicine, nursing, social work, policy and health management. HCH staff members frequently serve as guest lectures in classrooms throughout Maryland. Through presentations on health and homelessness, HCH staff educated over 1,700 people last year.
Frequently asked questions
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How does
Health Care for the Homeless help?
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How many people are homeless
in Baltimore/Maryland?
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How many people are homeless
nationally?
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What are the causes of homelessness?
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What is the relationship between
homelessness & health?
- Who does Health Care for the Homeless serve?
How does Health
Care for the Homeless help?
Health Care for the Homeless goes out on the streets to
get people off the streets.
Last year, we provided a comprehensive range of medical care, mental
health services, social services and addiction treatment to more than
5,000 men, women and children in Baltimore (nearly 9,000 people
statewide). In addition to
direct health care, we helped people find shelter, food, clothing, and
permanent housing. HCH also
works on local, state and national levels to advocate on behalf of
homeless people and to change the public policies responsible for
poverty and homelessness.
How many people are homeless
in Baltimore/Maryland?
At least 3,000 people will experience homelessness on any given
night – more than 30,000 over the course of a year.
Statewide, more than 50,000 Marylanders are homeless annually.
Most estimates derive from emergency and transitional shelter
data and the numbers of those turned away from shelter.
The actual numbers most likely are much higher.
How many people are
homeless nationally? While
it is a complex undertaking to arrive at an accurate estimate of the
number of people experiencing homelessness nationally, perhaps the most
reliable figure derives from a study conducted by the National Law
Center on Homelessness and Poverty (2004) suggesting that at least 3.5
million people – 1.35 million of them children – will experience
homelessness in a given year in the United States.
Early research on homelessness suggests that 7% of Americans
experience homelessness within their lifetimes.
The National Coalition for the Homeless publishes a more thorough
analysis of the challenges involved with arriving at an actual number.
Find it under “publications” at
www.nationalhomeless.org.
What are the causes
of homelessness?
Homelessness is fundamentally a problem of poverty, the lack of
affordable housing, and restricted access to health care services.
Resolving homelessness involves addressing both the immediate
needs of the individual experiencing it and changing the social
structures responsible for homelessness in the first place – by ensuring
the availability of health insurance, affordable housing, “living”
wages, and sufficient disability assistance for those unable to work.
HCH does both. Click
here for more information on HCH’s policy
and advocacy work.
What is the
relationship between homelessness and health?
The experience of homelessness causes health problems (frostbite
and hypothermia from the cold, communicable diseases from crowded
shelter conditions), exacerbates existing illnesses (cuts lead to
infection, frostbite result in amputation or even death), and seriously
complicates treatment (medications are lost or stolen, lack of
transportation to access health providers, lack of health insurance).
People who are homeless are sicker and die earlier than those who
are housed. A report
conducted last year for the National Health Care for the Homeless
Council found that people experiencing homelessness are three-to-four
times more likely to die prematurely than their housed counterparts.
For the complete study, visit:
http://www.nhchc.org/PrematureMortalityFinal.pdf.
Who does Health Care for the Homeless
serve? Nearly
80% of HCH clients identify as Black/African American, 34% are women,
and 80% lack health insurance.
All have incomes well below 100% of the federal poverty level.
Approximately 50% have a treatable addiction; 30% are diagnosed
with a major mental illness; 25% are “dually diagnosed” with both a
mental illness and an addiction.
HCH clients also experience high rates of hypertension, asthma,
diabetes, and HIV/AIDS.
Click here for a comparative report
on the number of people seen by HCH.
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