Why are there so many people in Albany GA that are homeless?

Answer 1

Why so many? I run a homeless shelter here in Albany Ga, and I can tell you that there are no easy answers to your question. The immediate cause of Homelessness is a lack of money necessary to obtain housing. Unemployment and Poverty are major causes. There are also mental issues such as paranoid schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder that which make it hard and sometimes dangerous for friends and family to provide support. The condition of homelessness also becomes difficult to overcome because of Alcohol and drug abuse issues which sap away savings and expose street users to high probabilities of incarceration up and being kicked back into the homeless population after their time is done.

Unemployment is high in Albany and many jobs available do not provide enough wages to save up for first months rent and deposit on an apartment. Many employers have cut back on hours to combat the effect of an increase in the minimum wage and the slumping economy. Many employers use temporary workers to avoid paying benefits to employees. Many hire more people than necessary to avoid paying benefits to full time employees, like overtime pay. HAving a job is one thing the having a job of the quality that allows one to save money and obtain credit is getting rarer in Albany.

Between homelessness and an apartment, there are two main alternatives for housing. One is the boarding house in which an individual rents a room for $60 to $100 per week. These houses typically require residents to share a bathroom and many are little better than crackhouses. The next most popular stepping stone is the motel or efficiencies within motels. These range from $30 to $50 per day or $125 to $200+ per week. On parttime wages or fulltime temporary wages a person doesn't bring home enough ($45-$50 a day) to save up for one of these alternatives while keeping a roof over head.

If you're in a room of 50 homeless people, you'll get 50 different stories of homelessness and 50 different "Why?"s.