Old and homeless
No Money, No Family, Nowhere to Go
The median age for homeless people is approaching 50, and experts expect that trend to accelerate with the aging of the baby boomers. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development predicted in 2010 that the number of homeless seniors will double between 2010 and 2050, leaving an estimated 95,000 senior citizens without shelter.
How those numbers trickle down to Spokane is hard to quantify because most community counts of homeless people don’t sort results by age that specifically. But several local care providers said they’ve noted an increase in older homeless people.
“It’s alarming how many women I’m seeing who are over 50 in need of housing,” said Johnny Beans’ mother, Stephy Nobles-Beans, who runs Fields of Diamonds House of Blessings, aChristian transitional home for women. “There’s not much out there for you, if you are over a certain age and don’t have a child or a job.”
Nobles-Beans, affectionately called “Mama Beans” by her residents, said earlier this year she was getting anywhere from three to six calls a week from women in need of housing–-either escaping a traumatic situation, such as substance abuse or domestic violence, or simply falling on hard times.
She said many of the women at her facility are newly homeless.
“I’ve got a woman who is living with me right now who is 63 and lost her home because the family member she was living with got into drugs,” she said earlier this year. “What do you do when you’re 63, have no money, nobody and nowhere to go?”
“I grit my teeth and give the ones I can’t take a list of housing options and shelters and I wish them luck,” Nobles-Beans added. “You want to save them all, but I’m doing this out of my own home and can only take a few at a time. I pray for them all.”
http://newamericamedia.org/2016/04/old-and-homeless-aging-hard-and-fast-in-spokanes-street-life.php
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