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Non-congregate shelter - An emergency shelter that provides private sleeping space, such as a hotel or motel room. Shown on a blue background

Homelessness is a complex, nuanced issue that takes time to understand fully. Organizations, experts, and advocates within the homelessness field use specific words and phrases that aren't common knowledge. To help bridge the information gap, we've put together another list of terms to help you better understand homelessness-related issues.  

The list addresses metrics the federal government uses to determine who qualifies for aid, programs available to states to help unhoused people get back on track, and more.  

1. Non-congregate shelter 
A non-congregate shelter is an emergency shelter that provides private sleeping space, such as a hotel or motel room. Pallet shelters are in this category because people using them have their own private space and typically aren't sharing it with a stranger.  

2. Area Median Income (AMI) / Median Family Income (MFI) 
AMI and MFI are often used interchangeably and are the median household in a given region. This statistic is developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to determine applicants' eligibility for specific federal housing programs. 

3. Rapid rehousing  
Rapid rehousing is a housing model designed to provide temporary housing assistance to people experiencing homelessness. This short-term intervention moves people out of homelessness quickly and into permanent housing.   

4. Housing choice voucher (Section 8) 
The housing choice voucher program is the federal government's major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and people with disabilities so they can afford safe and sanitary housing in the private market. Housing choice vouchers are administered locally by public housing agencies (PHAs). The PHAs receive federal funds from HUD to administer the voucher program. 

5. Emergency Housing Voucher  
The Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program is available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Through EHV, HUD is providing 70,000 housing choice vouchers to local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to assist: individuals and families who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, fleeing, domestic violence victims, human trafficking survivors, or were recently homeless or have an elevated risk of housing instability  

6. Housing First 
The Housing First model prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness. This serves as a platform for them to pursue personal goals and improve their quality of life. This approach is guided by the belief that people need basic necessities like food and a place to live before attending to anything less critical, such as getting a job, budgeting properly, or attending to substance use issues.  

7. Single Room Occupancy (SRO)  
An SRO is a residential property that includes multiple single occupancy units. If the unit doesn't have a food preparation area or a bathroom, those facilities are shared. During the mid-70s and 80s, there was a sharp decline in SROs in cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York. This housing option reduction is considered a contributing factor in the rise in homelessness.  

8. Affordable Housing 
According to federal government standards, housing and utilities should cost no more than 30% of your total income. Publicly subsidized rental housing usually has income restrictions, dictating that tenants cannot earn more than 60% of the area median income. Homelessness rates rise faster in cities where residents spend more than one-third of their income on rent. 

9. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)  
The TANF program allows states and territories to operate programs designed to help low-income families with children achieve economic self-sufficiency. States use TANF to fund monthly cash assistance payments to low-income families with children and a wide range of services. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services administers the funds. 

10. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 
SNAP is a federal program that provides nutrition benefits to low-income individuals and families used at stores to purchase food. The program is administered by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) through its nationwide network of FNS field offices.  

11. McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal law created to support the enrollment and education of students experiencing homelessness. McKinney-Vento is intended to provide homeless students the same educational opportunities as housed students by removing as many barriers to learning for homeless students as possible. 

12. Hostile architecture 
Hostile architecture limits how people experiencing homelessness use public spaces and discourages them from staying in an area for too long. Examples include a bench with an armrest in the middle, spikes, and boulders. Here's more on the impact of hostile architecture

Defining the types of homelessness 

Graphic reads: ackyard." For example, they would object to a Permanent Supportive Housing building coming to their neighborhood or business. NIMBYism isn't limited to homelessness. It can apply to other issues. Conversely, YIMBY= Yes, in my backyard. 

Organizations, experts, and advocates within the homelessness field use specific words and phrases that aren't always common knowledge. To help bridge the information gap, below is a list of terms that will help you better understand issues related to homelessness. Terms defined include the types of homelessness, shelter and housing classifications, and tools used to address the crisis. 

1. Unsheltered & Sheltered homelessness

Unsheltered homelessness refers to people sleeping outdoors in places not designed as a regular sleeping location, such as the street, a park, under an overpass, tent encampments, abandoned buildings, or vehicles. Sheltered homelessness includes people staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe-havens.

2. Congregate shelter

A congregate shelter is a shared living environment combining housing and services such as case management and employment services. Often in congregate shelters, people sleep in an open area with others. They are typically separated by gender and have set hours of operation.

3. Emergency shelter

A facility with the primary purpose of providing temporary shelter for homeless people. For example, cold and hot weather shelters that open during extreme temperatures are considered emergency shelters.

4. Imminent risk of homelessness

It applies to individuals and families on the brink of being unhoused. They have an annual income below 30 percent of the median income for the area. They don't have sufficient resources or support networks needed to obtain other permanent housing. 

5. Chronic homelessness

People experiencing chronic homelessness are entrenched in the shelter system, which acts as long-term housing for this population rather than an emergency option. They are likely to be older, underemployed, and often have a disability. 

6. Transitional homelessness

Transitional homelessness is when people enter the shelter system for only one stay – usually for a short time. They are likely to be younger and have become homeless because of a catastrophic event, such as job loss, divorce, or domestic abuse. 

7. Episodic homelessness

Episodic homelessness refers to people who experience regular bouts of being unhoused. Unlike transitional homelessness, they are chronically unemployed and may experience medical, mental health, and substance use issues. 

8. Hidden homelessness

Hidden homelessness refers to people who aren't part of official counts. They might be couch surfing at a friend's or a relative's house. 

9. Transitional housing 

Transitional housing provides people experiencing homelessness a place to stay combined with supportive services for up to 24 months. Pallet shelter villages are considered transitional housing. Residents, on average, stay three to six months before moving on to the next step, which includes permanent housing or reuniting with family.

10. Permanent Supportive Housing

This housing model provides housing assistance and supportive services on a long-term basis to people who formerly experienced homelessness. PSH is funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Continuum of Care program and requires that the client have a disability for eligibility.

11. Continuum of Care

The Continuum of Care (CoC) program promotes community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness. The program provides funding for efforts by nonprofit providers and state and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families. At the same time, minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness. For example, CoC program funds can be used for Rapid Rehousing, short-term rental assistance, and services to help individuals and families quickly exit homelessness

12. HMIS

The Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) collects and reports data on the characteristics of people experiencing homelessness and their service use patterns.

13. NIMBY & YIMBY

NIMBY = Not in my backyard. This label often refers to people who don't want the solution to a particular issue addressed in their "backyard." For example, they would object to a Permanent Supportive Housing building coming to their neighborhood or business. NIMBYism isn't limited to homelessness. It can apply to other issues. Conversely, YIMBY= Yes, in my backyard. 

14. Criminalizing homelessness

Refers to policies, laws, and local ordinances that make it illegal, difficult, or impossible for unsheltered people to engage in the everyday activities that most people carry out daily. "No sit, no lie" laws, which prevent people from sitting or lying down in public, are considered criminalization of homelessness. Other examples include prohibiting camping in public, sleeping in parks, panhandling, and sweeping tent encampments (removing the personal belongings of people experiencing homelessness).

15. Point-in-Time count

This count is a one-night estimate of both sheltered and unsheltered homeless people nationwide. Local groups conduct one-night counts during the last week in January of each year. Because of the 2020 pandemic, some point-in-time counts have been suspended or occurred later in the year. 

Hostile architecture and its impact on unhoused people


Tents line a sidewalk in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood.  In 2020 Washington state experienced a 20 percent increase in homelessness among families with children. File photo.

Tents line a sidewalk in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood. In 2020 Washington state experienced a 20 percent increase in homelessness among families with children. File photo.

At the end of the month, the federal eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to expire. The looming deadline coupled with a new homelessness report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is concerning. The annual Point-In-Time (PIT) count data reflects information collected before COVID-19 swept the nation.

For the first time since data collection began, more people experiencing homelessness were unsheltered, meaning they stayed on the street, in abandoned buildings, or other places unfit for human habitation — than were sheltered. Unsheltered homelessness increased by seven percent, while the sheltered numbers remained steady. In Arizona, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Oregon, more than half of the homeless population comprises people living in unsheltered locations.

This is an alarming benchmark because people living outside are at higher risk of experiencing violence and trauma. They are also more reliant on public and emergency health systems for care. COVID-19 has only exacerbated the homelessness crisis. The pandemic has created job losses and increased demand for the services such as food banks.

Key Findings from HUD’s 2020 annual homeless assessment report part one:
● On a single night in January 2020, 580,466 people – about 18 of every 10,000 people in the United States – experienced homelessness across the United States. This represents a 2.2 percent increase from 2019.
● After steady reductions from 2010 to 2016, homelessness has increased in the last four consecutive years.
● Veteran homelessness did not decline in 2020. 2020 was the first year that homelessness among family households did not fall since 2010.
● Youth homelessness is slightly down (a 2.2 percent decrease from 2019).
● People of color are significantly over-represented among people experiencing homelessness.

In a video address, HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge referred to the findings as devastating. She also spoke about how people can be helped, “It has been shown, time and again, that helping people exit homelessness quickly through permanent housing without restrictions, prevents a return to homelessness.”

But it’s not all bleak news. Help is on the way for people experiencing homelessness. The America Rescue Plan Act, signed by President Joe Biden, allocates $5 billion for emergency housing vouchers and $5 billion to help create housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

At Pallet, we contribute one solution to getting people off the street and into permanent housing. Our shelters are a safe and dignified place of transition until they can find a home of their own. The shelters are designed by people with lived experience who uniquely understand the needs of those who are living unsheltered.

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