Part 3 – Women and Children

Research and interviews for these articles has led me to discover some surprising and unsettling realities about the state of homelessness in America. Perhaps the most disturbing finding is that the United States has the largest number of homeless women and children of any other industrialized nation. Not since the Great Depression in the 1930s have so many families been without homes or apartments. The statistics below are the best estimates of the extent of homelessness, but it is important to note that they are almost certainly undercounts.

 

The numbers

Nationwide, homeless families — mostly single women with children — comprise roughly 34 percent, or a third of the total U.S. homeless population. Approximately 1.6 million children will experience homelessness over the course of a year. In any given day, researchers estimate that more than 200,000 children have no place to live.

Locally, the Jan. 28, HUD-mandated Point-in-Time count for Beaufort County recorded three single women living without adequate shelter. Those familiar with homelessness in the area, however, estimate the number to be between 10 and 20.

 

The options   

In the absence of shelter like that provided by Zion Shelter for men, homeless women and children often have no other options but to rely on friends and families to share already crowded houses or apartments or sleep in their cars in shopping mall parking lots under all-night security lights.

An accurate count of those forced to double-up with families and friends or camp out in their vehicles is not available. It is, however, without dispute that “couch surfing” — the temporary arrangement by which a friend or relative allows a homeless mother with children to sleep on the couch — is never easy. The kids usually have no place to sleep but the floor. And they never know when they’ll be asked to leave. Freedom or privacy is rare. Meals are erratic. Children learn to depend on food provided by their schools for daily nutritional needs.

The executive director for federal programs for Beaufort County Schools, Greg Singleton, keeps monthly records of the number of homeless children enrolled in the system.

The definition of homeless children used by county schools (unlike that employed by HUD) includes those “doubled-up” with family and friends. According to Singleton, “close to 99 percent of homeless school children” are in that category, forced to share houses and apartments with relatives and acquaintances. In the latest month for which records are available, October 2016, Singleton’s count shows that the number of homeless children in the system was 73 (out of a total of 7,000).

 

What causes women and children to become homeless?

The most immediate and major cause of homelessness among women and children is domestic violence. Inadequate housing and shelter options, evictions, discrimination, poverty and other factors contribute to the crisis of homelessness caused by family violence.

On any given night there are five to 10 women and children residing at the county’s only domestic violence shelter, Ruth’s House, in Washington. On the evening of the Point-in-Time count there were two women with children sheltering at Ruth’s House. All were escaping husbands or boyfriends who had abused and/or harassed them.

Battered women like those who rely on the services of Ruth’s House are often forced to choose between the lesser of two evils: abusive relationships or homelessness — staying with violent husbands and boyfriends who continuously mistreat them or leaving.

Those who choose to protect themselves and their children by escaping physical and mental abuse, however, often find it difficult to secure replacement housing because of insufficient funds for rent, utilities and security deposits, which together may run as high as $600 to $700 per month.

 

The impact on mothers and children

Removing themselves and their children from the battering inflicted by men may solve one problem (abuse) for victims of domestic abuse but it often creates another (homelessness). In addition, the impact of homelessness compounds the physical and psychological problems caused by abuse. Many homeless battered women experience anger, self-blame, sadness, fear and hopelessness. Homeless mothers worry what will happen if their children become ill; whether social agencies will try to take their children away from them. The experience of becoming homeless is another major stressor amidst already complicated traumatic experiences.

Children, too, experience high rates of chronic and acute physical and mental health problems when homeless. The constant barrage of stressful and traumatic experiences has profound effects on their development and ability to learn.

According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, by age 12, 83 percent of homeless children have been exposed to at least one serious violent event. Almost 25 percent have witnessed acts of violence within their families. Fifteen percent have witnessed physical assault by their fathers on their mothers.

Multiple national studies have confirmed that children who witness violence are more likely to exhibit frequent aggressive and antisocial behavior, increased fearfulness, higher levels of depression and anxiety and have a greater acceptance of violence as a means of resolving conflict. This makes homelessness a problem for the whole of society, not merely the women and children who suffer its cruel dictates.

 

Backstories

Three clients of Ruth’s House met with me on the afternoon of Oct. 1 to talk about how they had come to be at Ruth’s House and what they hoped for themselves and their children in the days ahead. The names are fictitious to protect their anonymity, but the stories are true.

 

Emily

The typical sheltered homeless family is comprised of a mother in her late 20s with two children. That description fits most residents at Ruth’s House, including Emily, the mother of two vivacious children — a bright-eyed and curious 4-year-old boy who wanted to know what I was writing on my yellow legal pad and a bright and energetic 2-year-old girl with a pink ribbon in her hair. During the weekends, Emily and the children eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together and share a bedroom. During the week, the children stay at a local day care center while Emily works.

Emily is employed at a local restaurant on 15th Street in Washington as a part-time waitress, but she only earns $2.13 per hour plus tips. On average, the salary and tips amount to $150 per week, or just $600 per month.

Before moving into Ruth’s House, Emily shared an apartment in Kinston with her then boyfriend of seven years. When he became abusive, she demanded that he leave. But within six days he returned to the apartment, physically assaulted Emily and threatened to kill her and her family. Emily called 911. The police were summoned, but the boyfriend evaded capture, only to turn himself in seven days later.

Among its many services, Ruth’s House helps clients and their children find more permanent shelter in the area. As a result of its efforts, Emily and her children are looking forward to moving into an apartment furnished and managed by the Washington Housing Authority.

 

Jane

Jane is a Caucasian, single woman in her late 50s with short brown hair and eyeglasses. For many years, Jane happily lived by herself in an apartment in Aurora before deciding to move in with a cousin in Blounts Creek. When she and the cousin found that they could not settle a dispute about how expenses would be shared, Jane moved out and rented a room in a house owned by a former male classmate with whom she had been friendly in high school. She was surprised to discover, however, that since high school he had acquired a tendency to mistreat women.

A friend, upon hearing about Jane’s unfortunate situation, invited her to share a low-income, government-managed apartment in Washington. Jane’s ill-fated journey through the labyrinth of homelessness, however, was not yet at an end. The housing authority rules, to which all residents must comply, prohibits “doubling up,” or the sharing of apartments with non-residents. Upon learning of Jane’s situation, the authority demanded that she remove herself from her friend’s apartment.

Like almost all those who find themselves homeless, Jane’s income was far below what she needed to rent an apartment of her own. Her sole source of income is a monthly Social Security Supplemental Security Income check of $700.

“How are you supposed to come up with deposits for an apartment and utilities on $700 a month?” she said when asked what she hoped to do when she left Ruth’s House. Fortunately, Ruth’s House was able to find an apartment for Jane in Chocowinity which adjusts its rents according to income.

“If not for Ruth’s House, I would have been on the streets,” she said.

 

Kathy

Kathy is another victim of physical and mental abuse. She, her 4-year-old daughter and a boyfriend were living in an apartment in Windsor when he began physically abusing her. “Fussin’s one thing,” she said, “but when he put his hands on me, that was too much.”

She forced him to leave, but he returned and started knocking out windows and doors, which caused her and her child to be evicted by the landlord.

Having no other place to go, Kathy spent a night in the Greenville Community Shelter.

“I had no other options,” she said. A counselor at the shelter suggested she contact Ruth’s House. Kathy and her child moved in the next day. She is now working with the staff to secure more permanent housing.

While Ruth’s House is a wonderful place and certainly fulfills a vital need in our community for abused women escaping domestic violence, single women made homeless by other causes are not so fortunate. There is no shelter from the cold, rain, sleet or snow for them.

This series concludes next week with an examination of possible solutions to the problem of homelessness for all kinds and conditions of men, women and children and steps that could be taken by city and county governments, non-profit organizations and individuals to provide shelter for the “least of these” in our midst.

 

This column is part three in four-part series about homelessness in Beaufort County. Polk Culpepper is a retired Episcopal priest and resident of Beaufort County.