Great Article on Women and Homelessness

Women have become the fastest-growing subset of the nation's estimated 672,000 homeless, and that statistical shift is ushering in more holistic approaches to deal with and end homelessness.

The Christian Science Monitor addresses this issue in an article published online on Dec. 20.  The piece, entitled Homelessness besets more women.  How to respond?, examines the extent of the problem and how a community like Los Angeles is dealing with the situation. 

Here is another excerpt.

The reason for the rise in women's homelessness – women now account for 33 percent of homeless people – are many, say experts: the global economic downturn that added to the loss of manufacturing jobs, erosion of the safety net with welfare cutbacks, and ongoing gentrification in many US cities that has gobbled up affordable housing.

The Downtown Women's Center (DWC) is a great resource for homeless women in L.A.

"It's important that most people understand that the face of homelessness is changing," says Lisa Watson, chief executive officer of DWC. "It's no longer the drunk older man living on the streets, which has been the typical media image for decades." She adds the rise in domestic violence to the equation. Although more than 98 percent of her residents stay housed permanently if they want, Ms. Watson says the idea of DWC is to help women gain skills so they will be prepared for jobs once California's unemployment rate drops from its current 12.4 percent.

It's a very interesting article.  Read full piece.