The Alarming Rates of Older Adult Homelessness

Before 2023, there had not been definitive national information on the number of older adults experiencing homelessness.  However, projections based upon analysis of three major U.S. cities estimated that homelessness among older adults is expected to nearly triple in 2030. Age demographics were included in the annual Point-in-Time Count for the first time in January 2023. On a single night in 2023:

• 138,098 adults over the age of 55 were homeless.
• Nearly 1 in 4 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness (living in places not meant for human habitation were over the age of 55.

The spike in unhoused older folks has been called the graying of America’s homeless.​

Adults who experience homelessness for the first time before age 50 tend to have adverse experiences, substance use disorders, or mental health challenges; have been involved in the justice system; and/or were under-employed early on in life. On the other hand, those who first experience homelessness at age 50 and older typically have experienced a financial or health crisis, lost a loved one, or otherwise experienced a relationship breakdown with the income-earner, and/or experienced barriers to continued ability to work. 

Join Maryland Philanthropy Network’s Funders Together to End Homelessness Baltimore and Aging Innovations’ Seniors and Housing Collaborative to explore the causes and consequences of homelessness and housing instability, and efforts to prevent and end homelessness and ameliorate the effects of homelessness and housing instability on health. 

Our speakers will be:

• Margot Kushel, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Director of UCSF’s Center for Vulnerable Populations and Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative,
• Jillian Fox, Director, Mid-Atlantic and Patricia Henandez, LCSW, Director, Metro Region with the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)

They will present on the impact supportive services embedded in affordable housing enable older adult residents facing complex challenges live with stability, autonomy, and dignity.

This program is for Maryland Philanthropy Network and Seniors and Housing Collaborative members only.