contextualizing the problem: racial inequity

Unemployment rates among people experiencing homelessness ranging from 57% to over 90%. This isn’t coincidental, even though homelessness can cause unemployment, unemployment is a main factor in becoming and remaining unhoused. For example, “in Los Angeles County, 46% of unsheltered adults cited unemployment or a financial reason as a primary reason why they are homeless."

Rates of homelessness were higher for non-Hispanic blacks (16.8 %) or Hispanics of any race (8.1 %) than for non-Hispanic whites (NCBI), with Black people, who are only 16% of the population, making up 40% of the unhoused population in 2020 (NAEH).

Black, Latino, American Indian and Native-Alaskan students attend schools with higher concentrations of first-year teachers at a higher rate (3 to 4%) than white students (1%) (UNCF).

African American students are less likely than white students to have access to college-ready courses. In fact, in 2011-12, only 57 percent of black students have access to a full range of math and science courses necessary for college readiness, compared to with 81 percent of Asian American students and 71 percent of white students (UNCF).

Racial disparities are particularly acute in schools where uncertified and unlicensed teachers are concentrated; nearly 7% of the nation’s black students – totaling over half a million students – attend schools where 80% or fewer of teachers meet these requirements; black students are more than four times as likely, and Latino students twice as likely, as white students to attend these schools (UNCF).

Homelessness creates and exacerbates existing health issues and significantly lowers access to health care, let alone quality health care.   

Unemployment also directly impacts insurance coverage, which is vital in maintaining physical and mental health. The number of people covered through their employer by health insurance is 49% of the country, and Black and Hispanic people are the least likely to have coverage from any source. (SHADAC)

Those who are unemployed report feelings of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, demoralization, worry, and physical pain. Unemployed individuals tend to suffer more from stress-related illnesses such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, heart disease, and arthritis.(Health)

Racial inequality in exposure to low-income neighborhood environments is so strong that high-income blacks are exposed to greater neighborhood poverty than low-income whites.

Economics status in youth is the biggest indicator for educational success in the future (Economic Policy Institute).

Two-thirds of Black Americans brought up in the poorest neighborhoods remain in the poorest quarter of neighborhoods after a generation; meanwhile only 40 percent of whites brought up in the poorest neighborhoods remain there. The long-term effects of being born and raised in a high-poverty neighborhood are thus far more persistent and damaging for Blacks than for whites (Brookings Institute).