Understanding the Issue

Many, many factors contribute to a family falling into the crisis of homelessness.

Begin to understand the impact of trauma over a lifetime with this powerful Ted Talk which was given by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and is called, "How Childhood Trauma Affects Health throughout a Lifetime".

39% of children in our country experience poverty while growing up. This video looks at the impact persistent poverty has on generational poverty. . .

Dr Brené Brown, author of "Daring Greatly", has spent the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame. Check out her spin on empathy in this video. . .

The families we work with are all living below the poverty line. They have children to care for, bills to pay, job shifts to make and little support from family and friends. There is no room for error. Often, they must make difficult choices - staying home with a sick child means missing a day of work. Paying a bill means not enough food on the table to feed their family. Any one crisis - from a fire to a missed bill to a death in the family - can tip them into homelessness.

Graphic courtesy of the National Coalition for the Homeless