Only the Good and the Homeless Die Young

The price of homelessness, for many, is premature death. Our homeless live about 36 percent shorter lives than our housed. And living is an even bigger luxury if you are a homeless Latina female, since you will likely only live half as long as the average housed person. To further depress you, about every hour, a child dies from poverty; many of those children are homeless. In Los Angeles, one homeless person dies per day, on average. Think about it. If one homeless person dies in just one of our cities per day, how many homeless people die daily across our nation? Our world? If they weren't homeless or poor, they wouldn't have died so prematurely -- or maybe not prematurely at all.

Medical conditions are major risk factors. The link between compromised health, limited access to healthcare and poverty seems obvious. I have known many homeless people with significant medical conditions who have, for years, found it difficult to obtain regular care due to the transient homeless lifestyle and barriers like poverty and sometimes mental health conditions and addiction. Violence toward the homeless also contributes to the death toll.

Formerly homeless people die young too. I've known some very sick formerly homeless people who spent time in shelter who died soon after they moved into an apartment. Imagine, a person finally gets to call a place home and then dies because of what he or she experienced on the streets and in shelters.

It's simply unfair.

As a part of a human community, we must mourn the loss of our homeless. Remember, sometimes no one knows or cares that they are gone. A difficult life and a tragic death should induce a sense of grief in us, and spur our fight to prevent and end homeless. We must pause to pay respect to those who died homeless and those who live homeless, remembering this high price of poverty.

Places like Asheville, North Carolina and New York City mourn the homeless. Asheville is holding a Homeless Person's Memorial Service on April 3rd to mourn and commemorate the 26 homeless people who died there between last year and this winter. Some of New York City's homeless get buried at Hart Island, a potter's field, where unclaimed and unknown people are buried when they die.  While it might not be the happiest of field trips, public visitation is allowed. Since 1990, the National Coalition for the Homeless, the National Consumer Advisory Board and the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council work together each year to organize Homeless Person's Memorial Day in late December. They provide resources for people interested in organizing a Homeless Person's Memorial Day event. Do you know of any homeless person's memorial services in your community?

It's been established that homelessness is a social justice issue and that a home is a human right. These are certainly true when living, in and of itself, becomes a privilege for the housed.

Photo credit: Qole Pejorian