1.6 billion people globally are homeless.
Homelessness has been a growing issue in the United States for decades — it affects millions of people each year. Despite efforts to address the problem, the number of individuals experiencing homelessness continues to rise, with the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing lack of affordable housing exacerbating an already difficult situation.
Homelessness is a complicated issue. This is partly because the term “homeless” is rather broad, at least how the government uses it. The official definition of homeless includes those living in hotels, RVs, cabin cruisers, etc, as well as people who couch-surf, essentially if someone doesn’t have a legal, fixed address, they’re considered homeless. In most West Coast cities the common denominator when it comes to the majority of the homeless population, is mental illness or drug addiction. There are residential programs available for homeless people, but these shelters and programs are highly structured, which addicts seldom want.