CAUSES OF HOMELESSNESS IN POMONA

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, there are 633,782 people experiencing homelessness throughout the United States. Of that number, 38% are families with children, 16% are considered chronically homeless and 13% are veterans. NAEH found that four economic indicators - housing affordability for poor people, unemployment, poor workers' income, and foreclosure status -contributed to tough economic conditions forcing many people into homelessness. Because of these factors, many American cities have seen an increase in homelessness since 2008. From the late 1980’s to 2000, the city of Pomona experienced a boom in homelessness due to economic distress, high unemployment rates, and deinstitutionalization of people from mental health facilities.

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Homeless people and their items such as tents, sleeping bags, cardboard shelters, and shopping carts, along with urine, feces, and drug paraphernalia make it difficult for citizens and their families to use the space the way it was intended to be used. The visibility of private activities, such as relieving oneself in public, is a deterrent to the traditional used of public space. The community has a right to control behaviors in its public spaces and to outlaw activities associated with homeless and transients.

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Since 2003, there have been three consistent sources of funding used to assist the homeless of Pomona. These include the Emergency Shelter Grant, the Supportive Housing Program, and Shelter Plus Care. Each of these programs is funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and over the past ten years, $15,323,327 in targeted homeless program funds has assisted almost 31,000 people. The funds have assisted in providing emergency shelter, preventing homelessness, transitional housing, rental assistance, and access to permanent housing as well as coordinating efforts to reduce homelessness in the city.