Homelessness by the Numbers

We Hope for a Better 2006

We talked about the bad job that the County did in counting homeless people especially when compared to other cities. There was some discussion about how small these numbers are. So we leave 2005 by the numbers...

• We wish our 9 staff a happy new year as they prepare to solve homelessness in 2006.
• We thank our 15 Board members for their guidance and wisdom in a rough 2005.
• We mourn the 49 homeless people who died in 2005.
• For the average 55 per day who call the Domestic Violence HelpLine we wish safety in 2006.
• We wish a better new year to the average of 78 people who are released from prison/jail right in to shelter every month into the three downtown shelters in Cleveland.
• We hope that 2006 is better for the 120 women who are sleeping at the community women's shelter tonight.
• We congratulate the 260 men who made it into publicly funded transitional housing shelters in Cleveland and hope that they continue the move to stability in 2006.
• Everyday, we think about the 550 men at the largest shelter in Ohio, and look forward to better housing in 2006
• We wonder about the safety of 1,800 or 2,000 people who sleep on the streets or the abandoned buildings in Cleveland every night.
• We hope for a better 2006 for the average 4,800 to 5,000 people that NEOCH estimates are homeless everyday in Cleveland.
• We are sorry that Ohio has not addressed the epidemic of foreclosures (second in the U.S.) and wish for a smooth transition for the average 9,000 people going through the eviction process every year.
• We wish a happier new year for the average 12,000 people who faced eviction in the Cleveland courts in a year.
• Happier new year to the estimated 25,000 people who find themselves homeless in Cuyahoga County in a typical year.
• We hope for a more prosperous 2006 for the over 35,000 people in Cleveland who make less than $6,000 per year.
• We hope for jobs in 2006 that pay a decent wage to replace the 218,400 jobs lost in Ohio since 2001.
• We certainly want to see better days for the 327,000 people officially considered "unemployed" in May of 2005 in Ohio.

Good luck to all those struggling in our community and we certainly miss their talents while they are preoccupied with survival.

Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.