The United States Conference of Mayors HUNGER AND HOMELESSNESS SURVEY A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America’s Cities A 25-City Survey December 2008 The UniTed STaTeS ConferenCe of MayorS THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF MAYORS Manuel a. (Manny) diaz Mayor of Miami President Greg nickels Mayor of Seattle Vice President elizabeth B. Kautz Mayor of Burnsville Second Vice President Gavin newsom Mayor of San Francisco Co-Chair, Hunger and Homelessness Taskforce Jennifer T. Stultz Mayor of Gastonia Co-Chair, Hunger and Homelessness Taskforce Tom Cochran CEO and Executive Director The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,139 such cities in the country today, each represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the Mayor. The U.S. Conference of Mayors Hunger and Homelessness Survey 2008 was prepared by Abt Associates Inc. The primary team members were Josh Leopold, Lauren Dunton, Nichole Fiore, Louise Rothschild and John Griffith. The team was advised by Jill Khadduri, Larry Buron and Brooke Spellman of Abt Associates and Eugene Lowe, Assistant Executive Director for Housing and Community Development at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Aminatou Poubelle and Art Slater at the U.S. Conference of Mayors provided assistance with the survey. Production assistance was provided by Jeff Smith of Abt Associates. Printed on Recycled Paper. do your part! please recycle! design: Redshed Creative, www.redshedcreative.com Contents Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................1 Background...........................................................................................................................................2 History of This Report .................................................................................................................2 Changes to This Year’s Report ....................................................................................................2 The Data in This Report...............................................................................................................3 Limitations of This Study ............................................................................................................3 Organization of This Report ........................................................................................................4 1. Hunger ........................................................................................................................................5 1.1 Supply of Emergency Food Assistance .............................................................................5 1.2 Demand for Emergency Food Assistance..........................................................................7 1.3 Unmet Need for Food Assistance......................................................................................9 1.4 Characteristics of Persons Requesting Food Assistance ...................................................9 1.5 Causes of Hunger and Policy Responses.........................................................................11 1.6 Outlook for Next Year.....................................................................................................12 2. Homelessness ............................................................................................................................13 2.1 Trends in Homelessness over the Past Year....................................................................13 2.2 Unmet Need for Shelter...................................................................................................15 2.3 Prevalence of Homelessness and Patterns of Use of Programs .......................................16 2.4 Characteristics of Persons Experiencing Homelessness..................................................18 2.5 Causes of Homelessness..................................................................................................19 2.6 Homeless Policy Initiatives .............................................................................................20 2.7 Foreclosures and Homelessness ......................................................................................22 2.8 Homelessness and Permanent Housing ...........................................................................22 2.9 Outlook for Next Year.....................................................................................................23 3. City Profiles ..............................................................................................................................24 Boston, Massachusetts ...............................................................................................................25 Charleston, South Carolina ........................................................................................................26 Charlotte, North Carolina...........................................................................................................27 Chicago, Illinois.........................................................................................................................28 Cleveland, Ohio .........................................................................................................................29 Dallas, Texas..............................................................................................................................30 Denver, Colorado.......................................................................................................................31 Des Moines, Iowa ......................................................................................................................32 Gastonia, North Carolina ...........................................................................................................33 Kansas City, Missouri................................................................................................................34 Los Angeles, California .............................................................................................................35 Louisville, Kentucky..................................................................................................................36 Miami, Florida ...........................................................................................................................37 Minneapolis, Minnesota.............................................................................................................38 Nashville, Tennessee..................................................................................................................39 U.S. Conference of Mayors 2008 Status Report on Hunger & Homelessness i Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ........................................................................................................40 Phoenix, Arizona........................................................................................................................41 Portland, Oregon........................................................................................................................42 Providence, Rhode Island ..........................................................................................................43 Salt Lake City, Utah...................................................................................................................44 San Francisco, California...........................................................................................................45 Santa Monica, California ...........................................................................................................46 Seattle, Washington ...................................................................................................................47 St. Paul, Minnesota ....................................................................................................................48 Trenton, New Jersey ..................................................................................................................49 Appendices Appendix A: List of Past Reports ...........................................................................................50 Appendix B: Survey Cities & Mayors ....................................................................................53 Appendix C: 2008 Hunger and Homelessness Information Questionnaire ............................55 Appendix D: Supply of Emergency Food Assistance .............................................................63 Appendix E: Demand for Emergency Food Assistance..........................................................66 Appendix F: Prevalence of Homelessness..............................................................................68 Appendix G: Trends in Homelessness and Characteristics of Persons Experiencing Homelessness ....................................................................................................70 U.S. Conference of Mayors 2008 Status Report on Hunger & Homelessness ii Executive Summary This year’s survey includes data from 25 cities whose mayors are members of The U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness. Respondents were asked to provide information on emergency food assistance and homeless services provided between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008. Among the report’s major findings are the following: Twenty cities