Busting Myths About Homelessness

An article for CALmatters by Marisa Kendall uses data to dispel six common myths about homelessness that don’t hold true.

While some blame California’s severe homelessness crisis on migration from other states, the data don’t bear that out: “The vast majority of people who are homeless in California are from California — and most are still living in the same county where they lost their housing, according to a recent large-scale survey of unhoused Californians conducted by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative.” The survey found that 90 percent of respondents lived in California when they lost their housing, and 66 percent were born in the state.

The misconception that most unhoused people are experiencing addiction or mental illness is also unfounded. While rates of mental illness and addiction are higher than in the general population, they do not account for a majority of people experiencing homelessness. 

The article also explains the complicated process of getting temporary shelter or housing. There are a host of challenges that prevent people from accessing shelter. According to Nicole Fiore, part of the team that worked on a state report on Project Roomkey, “People will come indoors if they are offered autonomy, safety, privacy, if they’re able to keep their partners, their pets, their possessions.”

Understanding the root causes of homelessness and the challenges unhoused people face is crucial at a time when the Supreme Court opened the door for more punitive measures and criminalization with its ruling on Grants Pass v. Johnson.