{"id":13639,"date":"2019-12-11T09:00:28","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T14:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=13639"},"modified":"2022-10-09T07:12:12","modified_gmt":"2022-10-09T11:12:12","slug":"a-different-kind-of-homelessness-in-rural-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/a-different-kind-of-homelessness-in-rural-america\/","title":{"rendered":"A Different Kind of Homelessness in Rural America"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There\u2019s a myth about homelessness: that if an area has a problem with it, it\u2019s obvious.<\/p>\n

The public may not do much to help, but they can at least see homeless people are there, sleeping in tents under bridges or panhandling at intersections. If those signs aren\u2019t there, we assume the community is free from homelessness, and put it out of our minds.<\/p>\n

Rural homelessness doesn\u2019t look like urban homelessness.<\/strong><\/em> It looks like people living in cramped cars, couch surfing at the mercy of friends and family, and staying in motels. Instead of sleeping under bridges, they may sleep in abandoned farm buildings or in the woods. They don\u2019t panhandle, because it wouldn\u2019t do much good, and the nearest shelter may be dozens of miles away.<\/p>\n

If homeless people are invisible, rural homeless people are even more so.<\/p>\n

As of 2018, rural homeless people made up 15 percent<\/a> of the nation\u2019s total homeless population. This figure is likely to be an underestimation, as homeless people in rural areas are difficult to count. One in three<\/a> rural Americans say homelessness is a problem in their communities. Truly problematic is the fact that these areas\u2019 politicians often don\u2019t see the homelessness<\/a> going on in the places they represent, and therefore cannot be effective advocates.<\/p>\n

The rates of rural homelessness seem to be going up, too. Since 2013, homelessness among grade-school students has increased 11 percent<\/a>, although the nationwide rate of homelessness for this age group has only gone up 3 percent.<\/p>\n

Rural homelessness is either getting worse, or it\u2019s always been a big problem and only now are we realizing that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Small Towns Have Fewer Resources<\/h3>\n

Even though the statistics indicate rural homelessness is on the rise, availability of resources for this population is not. Services for homeless people are funded in large part by the federal government. HUD, which distributes funding for programs like rapid rehousing, tends to focus mainly on urban areas. It basically separates locations into \u201curban\u201d and \u201cnot urban,\u201d with most of its attention going to the former.<\/p>\n

Small towns often don\u2019t have homeless shelters or social service agencies. What resources there are could be harder to find. They\u2019re based out of churches or ran by local businesses. People learn about them through word-of-mouth. Seeking help in this way\u2014by asking neighbors and co-workers\u2014can be tricky. It\u2019s hard to keep private issues private in rural communities. Many people fear their situation becoming public and the gossip and judgment that could come with it.<\/p>\n

In order to survive and stand a chance of escaping homelessness, people need a network of supports:<\/p>\n