What is Homelessness?

Homelessness is the absence of a place to live. The homeless, also referred to as: hobo, tramp, vagrant, bum, bagman/bagwomen and wandering poor, struggle to survive because of the lack of food and shelter. It is an unsolved problem in United States and it still exists today. Homelessness is categorized in three different sections. They are: “the absolute houseless, the concealed houseless and those at risk of becoming houseless.”

The absolute houseless is people that are considered to be “sleeping rough.” They are the people that live on the streets or shelters that are not meant for human habitation.

Concealed houseless refers to those who are housed with family or friends temporarily. It is called concealed houseless because the person is considered to be privately living with family and is unable to afford any shelter of their own.

Those who are at risk of houseless are people who are going to be evicted or when their lease expires and have no future home in sight. Others who fall in this category are prisoners with no place to live when they are released.

http://www.raisingtheroof.org/lrn-home-QandA-index.cfm#1