1

Covid and the Impact on Homelessness

Dylan Kolakowski

Sport and Medical Sciences Academy

S2 2022 Capstone

Mrs. Boutilier

March 3, 2022
 2

Covid and the Impact on Homelessness

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected everyone to some extent but much more for others.

Homelessness has been an issue across the world for as long as we can remember but now more

than ever the number of homeless people has skyrocketed. “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.” (U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development , 2021). Not only has covid forced people into

homelessness but affected those already homeless.

You may ask yourself “How could have COVID affect those who have already been

homeless?” But the homeless were already at a disadvantage. Like us they did not have the

necessary resources to protect themselves from the virus and this made them vulnerable. While

citizens were told to stay in their homes and only leave when absolutely necessary the homeless

population had nowhere to go or keep safe from the virus. The shelters that they had once relied

on for a hot meal or bed to sleep in were no longer open to full capacity. Everywhere across the

country shelters were being forced to cut the capacity in half due to safety regulations. Those

who had previously stayed in those shelters had no choice but to resort back to staying on the

streets. “This year, the coronavirus has forced homeless shelters to limit the number of beds they

can offer. Pacific Garden Mission, for instance, is operating at roughly half its normal capacity of

740. And COVID-19 cases are rising as temperatures drop.”

 3

Although the health and safety challenges were hard on the population the economic

challenges proved to be a much more lasting problem. In a recent study researchers found in a

study that consisted of 200 people that “Almost two-fifths of survey participants reported a job

or income loss between February and October 2020” (Davis, 2021). These people have already

so little and are losing possibly the only source of income they had put people at wits end. They

had trouble collecting stimulus checks and the study showed that very few ever did end up

receiving one at all. “Such deprivation might have been partially alleviated by stimulus checks,

beginning with those authorized by the CARES Act. However, fewer than half of the survey

participants said they had received a pandemic relief payment in spring 2020, compared to 86

percent of very-low-income housed Californians. Survey participants with no monthly income or

incomes below $500 in October 2020 were especially unlikely to say they received a payment.”

(Davis, 2021). Those living on the poverty line were most heavily affected. That specific

population lost the most jobs, having been on the poverty line caused a deeper lasting impact on

their lives.

For these individuals experiencing financial problems it was proven to have caused severe

depression in many.

The increase in homeless rates have risen substantially over the Covid-19 pandemic

rising an unprecedented 580,466 in the year 2020 alone. People lost jobs and had no way to

cover their or their families expenses. In the top 10 cities with the highest eviction rates it totaled

to an astounding 85,326 people. Although “The large volume of evictions left many people

experiencing homelessness unhoused as shelters were forced to reduce capacity. Interestingly,

this surging number of evictions led to a federal order to temporarily halt residential evictions to

prevent the spread of COVID-19. (United Way of the National Capital Area, 2022).
 4

After looking at the rates of evictions I was led to look at what was the source of the

problem. What I found was that unemployment was directly related to the amounts of evictions

and increased number of homeless people across the country. The top 5 states with the highest

homeless rates during Covid-19 are as follows… “Hawaii 14.3%, Nevada 12%, New York 9.6%,

Louisiana 9.4%, California 9.3%.” (United Way of the National Capital Area, 2022). These

numbers directly correlate with unemployment rates.

Now more than ever we need to help the homeless population, the Covid-19 pandemic

has deeply affected people and whatever we can do will help. After researching the effects of the

Covid-19 pandemic I learned a lot about how difficult the COVID-19 pandemic really was for

the homeless community and discovered that as well as those on the brink of homelessness. The

lasting effects are to a much bigger magnitude than I could have imagined. I will be doing

everything I can in order to help and do my part, which is why I am donating food to and

preparing food to donate to the homeless community. As well as volunteering my time at

organizations who directly help the homeless.

 5

References

United Way of the National Capital Area. “The Effect of COVID-19 on Homelessness in the US

United Way.” United Way NCA, 6 Jan. 2022,

https://unitedwaynca.org/blog/the-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-homelessness-in-the-unit

ed-states/

“How Has the Pandemic Affected the Homeless?” UC Davis, 18 Oct. 2021,

https://www.ucdavis.edu/curiosity/blog/how-has-pandemic-affected-homeless

Naeh. “New Report Shows Rise in Homelessness in Advance of COVID-19 Crisis.” National

Alliance to End Homelessness, 18 Mar. 2021,

https://endhomelessness.org/blog/new-report-shows-rise-in-homelessness-in-advance-of-covid-1

9-crisis/

www.newhavenindependent.org used Cloudflare to restrict access. (2020, March 31). New

Haven Independent. https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/covid-updates

How Has the Pandemic Affected the Homeless? (2021, October 18). UC Davis.

https://www.ucdavis.edu/curiosity/blog/how-has-pandemic-affected-homeless

https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessn

ess-2021/
 6

HUD Releases 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1. (2021, May 21). HUD.Gov /

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/hud_no_21_041#:%7E:text=On%2

0a%20single%20night%20in%20January%202020%2C%20580%2C466%20people%20%E2%8

0%93%20about,the%20last%20four%20consecutive%20years