Gender Gap Closes on Homeless Women : * County Simply Must Find Room in Its Heart for Them

As recently as a decade ago, homelessness was mostly confined to middle-aged alcoholic men in urban skid rows. Today, homelessness has come to the suburbs and has become more an equal opportunity problem. The Urban Institute says that women represent about 19% of the urban homeless, and the National Coalition on the Homeless grimly notes that families with children--nearly all of which are headed by women--are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population.

Details about homeless women in Orange County are sketchy, but what’s clear is that there is a woefully inadequate number of beds and services to address the problem. The Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force estimates there are 10,000-12,000 homeless people in the county, about half of them children. A survey taken last year by the task force found that a third of those questioned were women, but the actual number is thought to be somewhat lower.

What is the profile of these homeless women? The county’s major women’s shelter, the YWCA in Santa Ana, says that homelessness affects women of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, but that most are 25- to 45-year-old whites who lived in Orange County well before losing their homes.

Service providers say that the problem of homelessness is compounded for women by feelings of failure in their role as nurturers. According to a USC study of 100 homeless families, women were concerned about their inability to provide a “home” for themselves and their children. Moreover, women are more vulnerable to rape and other street crimes than their male counterparts. They are more likely to seek services or shelters.

Even without a place to live, homeless women try to provide as well as they can for their families. Last September, when the Orange County Rescue Mission offered 150 back-to-school packs to homeless and other very poor families, 900 people showed up to claim them.

There are many reasons why a person becomes homeless, including drug abuse. But there also are pervasive societal conditions that have made women increasingly vulnerable to homelessness: housing prices, high divorce rates, wife battering, a dearth of child care assistance and a job market where unequal pay rates and age discrimination are common.

Younger women can have trouble getting a foothold in the economy. Older women have their own problems, especially if their Social Security benefits are meager. Once evicted, they can’t get together the first- and last-month rent and deposits to obtain a new apartment. Some sleep in their cars or wait in line for a room at shelters. But today, there are barely more than 100 shelter spaces for women in Orange County--a fraction of the need.

Homelessness is expected to significantly worsen over the next few years, experts say. Recent efforts in Orange County to build single-room occupancy hotels--dormitory-type housing for single adults--can help, but similar housing is needed for families as well. Also, community support is needed for agencies that provide services for the homeless, including United Way, Share Our Selves and the Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force. Partly because of a crisis in donor giving last summer, food and shelter crisis relief agencies plan an early start this year to bring the community together to avert similar shortages. That’s a good step.

In the meantime, more women will find that, for them, the gender gap unfortunately is narrowing. And one thing is clear: Orange County is only beginning to deal with the problem.