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Homeless Increase - in Massachusetts
There is just enough space for Lisa Rivera's family to sleep at Jessie's House homeless shelter. In one room, she fits the full-sized bed she shares with her 9-year-old daughter, the trundle for her 11-year-old son, a twin bed for her 14-year-old daughter and a playpen for her 1 1/2-year old son. "It's comfortable, but it's hard sleeping all together," the 32-year-old woman said. "Oh my God, sometimes it's so hard."Faced with domestic abuse, high housing costs and unemployment, Rivera's family finds itself among the growing ranks of the homeless in Massachusetts - and possibly, the country About 1,800 homeless families were in Massachusetts shelters last week - up from 1,400 in June 2006 and just under 1,200 in June 2005, according to state figures. There are more families in shelters now than at any time since the inception of the state's family shelter program in 1983, according to the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. How's that new mandatory health insurance thing working out, folks? State officials blame a wide range of problems - from cuts in assistance to the recent housing crisis. "We're very concerned that this is going to keep going," said Julia Kehoe, commissioner of the state Department of Transitional Assistance. Massachusetts is one of the few states that keep government records of the number of homeless families in shelters because state law requires the Commonwealth to shelter any family that meets income and other guidelines. The state keeps a daily count to show how many beds it needs, said Robyn Frost, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. Nationally, the picture is much less clear. More money, more grants, more shelters, more taxes, more freebies, more illegal aliens, more homeless - a socialist paradise! Posted by: Bobby 2007-10-08 |
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