Director's Corner

By TIMOTHY HARRIS
Executive Director

For more than 20 years, I’ve eagerly awaited publication of the United States Conference of Mayors’ (www.mayors.org) Report on Hunger and Homelessness each December.

While the methodology is less than consistent (the participating cities vary from year to year, and each tend to assess the needs differently), the report has still been a useful benchmark as to whether we’re winning or losing the war on poverty. For the last few years, we’ve been losing less badly, which, given the consistent double-digit increases of 2003 and prior, is welcome news. The chart below shows the trend since 2002.

This year, however, the numbers again went up. The overall increase went from 6 to 9 percent, while the increase in family homelessness remained even at 5 percent. Were I to glibly hypothesize from insufficient data, here’s what I’d say: “A strong economy coupled with new approaches to reducing homelessness has slowed the increase, but the inevitable creaming that comes with a focus on producing results may leave some behind.”

We’ll see what happens next year.