The Women
The Numbers of Homeless Women and Children
The Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at
the University of Massachusetts McCormack Institute prepared
a fact sheet in November 2005 to try to pinpoint the number
of homeless women and children in Massachusetts. They found
that on an annual basis:
• Between 19,000 to 29,000 individuals stay in
shelters.
• About 20% of these individuals are women.
• Women head 90% of the 1,100 families who use shelters.
• 5,000 women and 2,000 children stay in shelters
in Massachusetts.
• Another 3,000 stay in domestic violence shelters.
• Up to 50% of families seeking emergency shelter
are turned away.
Barriers to Health Care
Women who are homeless face a myriad of challenges in
trying to manage everyday life. Homelessness impacts their
ability to focus, organize or follow through on primary
and preventive health care. Isolation, poverty, shame,
exhaustion, humiliation, and cognitive and mental impairment
are some of the many barriers that get in the way of asking
for and receiving help.
The most common medical issues that Women of Means addresses
in the shelters are:
• hypertension
• diabetes
• musculoskeletal pains
• respiratory illnesses
• depression
• skin disorders
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• trauma
• mental illness
• wounds
• substance abuse
• frostbite and
hypothermia
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National statistics state that 90% of homeless women report
emotional or physical trauma before or after they become
homeless. All of Women of Means patients report physical
assaults since becoming homeless. Some patients have as
many as 30 medical problems and 80% have multiple diagnoses. |
