Myth: Family homelessness is episodic and rare
Fact: More families experience homelessness in the United States than in any other industrialized nation.
Family homelessness has become a chronic problem, with families accounting for 37% of the overall homeless population and 50% of the sheltered population.
One in 30 American children experience homelessness annually; 51% are under age five. More than 2.5 million children are homeless each year in the United States.
This mythbuster was submitted by Michael Yoder, Executive Director of Associated Ministries.
Myth: People choose to be homeless.
Fact: This myth is dangerous and allows us to ignore the trauma of homelessness and neurobiological effects trauma has on humans. Being homeless is stressful, humiliating, exhausting, and dangerous. It is a hard day-to-day existence for men, women, and children.
Some people may choose to sleep outside rather than in a shelter because they fear having to leave their pets or possessions outside. They also may not want to leave their community of others living outside. They may also be living with serious mental and physical health conditions with symptoms that make it difficult to have the capacity and ability to make rational decisions. In addition, some shelters and housing programs have strict criteria that potentially “screen out” the most vulnerable people.
When we take the time to engage and listen to someone’s story, we often hear they are not “choosing to be homeless” but rather the other choices available are undesirable, have been tried or misunderstood. For now, their current situation is better than the alternative because they have become accustomed to living unhoused. Homelessness is traumatic and complicated and solutions are not a one-size-fits-all.
“Shouldn’t people experiencing homelessness give up their pets?” “Wouldn’t life be easier for both the person experiencing homelessness and their pets?”
From Pets and Homelessness (September 22, 2020)
Indeed, pets can create additional hardships, including:
But, pets are also a life-line for many people, especially those with a history of (or ongoing) trauma. Pets can offer:
Two questions for pet lovers everywhere:
We are the Website Workgroup of the Tacoma Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness. Our goal with this blog to provide free information about homelessness to support the effort to end homelessness in our county.
Although most people want to end or at least work to reduce the effects of homelessness, most are also confused about many aspects of homelessness, including:
The leading causes of homelessness
Who people experiencing homelessness really are and what they need
Homelessness is the problem, not the people experiencing homelessness. We believe we need to change the ways we think and talk about this crisis and those experiencing it. Public perception influences public policy. To make the changes we need to support Pierce County’s Comprehensive Plan to End Homelessness, we must address the myths, stereotypes and misconceptions which will persist in the absence of truth. We must identify the critical issues facing the unsheltered so we can focus solutions in the right places.
We’re posting the truth about these widely held misconceptions, to combat the interests which have a stake in perpetuating them. We’ll be bringing out the most critical issues faced by people experiencing homelessness so our solutions can clearly address them, and providing materials that can be used in a variety of ways in public education.
To join or learn more about the our group, please e-mail Theresa Power-Drutis, tpdrutis@nctacoma.org, or Laurie Davenport at lauriedavenportart@gmail.com.
The images used in these posts are free use images by Laurie Davenport.
MYTH: All Veterans come home to a place to live
TRUTH: There are over 37,000 homeless Veterans in the United States
Submitted by coalition member Monique Brown, USA(Ret.), MNPL
Founder / Executive Director, FOB Hope
MYTH: Homeless People Should Just Get A Job
How many times have you heard this stereotype come into conversation about homelessness? Research from the Homelessness Policy Research Institute shows otherwise in finding:
TRUTH:
People experiencing homelessness are unemployed or underemployed at disproportionately high rates, but many want to work.
Institutional barriers to employment include inhospitable labor market conditions, discrimination in hiring practices, bureaucratic red tape, and strict shelter policies.
Evidence-based interventions for individual barriers emphasize recognizing the unique needs and challenges of people experiencing homelessness.
Policy recommendations for overcoming institutional barriers include “Ban the Box” and “Ban the Address” legislation, employment-based intake questions, and hiring people with lived experience of homelessness at service provider agencies.
To see more from their research: https://socialinnovation.usc.edu/…/Homelessness-and...
To learn more: https://www.geekwire.com/…/homelessness-employment…/#homelessmyths#endhomelessness
In June 2026 the Pierce County Council adopted the current version of the Comprehensive Plan to End Homelessness. Click here to follow developments regarding the plan: https://www.piercecountywa.gov/7309/Comprehensive-Plan-to-End-Homelessness
