2023 was our hottest year on Earth. With record temperatures plaguing the U.S. and the world, millions retreated to the comfort of their air-conditioned living spaces, but what about those living without the luxuries of AC units and cooling systems? What about those forgotten about in the concrete fortresses of American cities? Homelessness in the U.S. increased by an astounding 12% in 2023 due to higher costs of living, and climate change has exacerbated the issue by subjecting unhoused individuals to a variety of negative consequences, from food illness to first degree burns. In 2020, deaths of homeless individuals were up by 77% since 2015, a record high for the United States. Frighteningly, homelessness has become even more lethal than it was in the past — particularly now in the wake of extreme temperatures. Without taking progressive steps to address the issues of both climate change and affordable housing, the future will continue to be dangerous for unhoused Americans.
The Housing Crisis in America: A Brief History
The events of the 20th century greatly affected the modern appearance of homelessness in the U.S. Since the Industrial Revolution, there have been people unable to afford adequate housing around the country, most significantly seen in American cities. However, from the 1970s onward, the U.S. has seen a steeply rising consumer price index that has increased more than the national average minimum wage, demonstrating how national wages have not kept up with prices and thus left more people unable to pay their bills and afford housing.
Massive 1980s budget cuts to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Reagan administration added to the inaccessibility of unhoused individuals to receive support, solidifying homelessness as a nationwide crisis. Due to the budget cuts, homeless individuals with cognitive disabilities, in particular, were victims of restrictive processes that undermined their ability to receive care. According to a study released by the National Institutes of Health, “cuts in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) in the late 1980s, accompanied by a tightening of the disability eligibility process (Social Security Act of 1980), adversely affected mentally ill persons living in rooming houses.” More specifically, a decrease in social security coupled with new requirements introduced in the 1980s made it more difficult for those living with mental disabilities to purchase houses. Paired with cuts to the Section 8 Housing Program, which distributes rent-subsidizing vouchers, these changes created a significant decrease in low-income housing subsidies, forcing people who could no longer afford their rent or housing expenses to live in shelters or on the street.
While this happened 40 years ago, their effects are still being felt, and these policies, along with an increasingly expensive national cost of living, have made Americans more vulnerable to experiencing homelessness.
A Hostile Front: Attitudes and Policies towards Homelessness
What is perhaps most problematic about homelessness in America is politicians’ willingness to vilify unhoused people. For example, in a campaign rally video, former president Donald Trump says excitedly “We will also take back our streets from the homeless, the drug-addicted, and the mentally ill,” proclaiming to the public “this is how we bring public safety back to America.” Rather than focus on their humanity, politicians like Trump and oftentimes, the greater public, see homeless individuals as an everyday threat.
In his interview with The HPR, Tracy Kidder, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of the book “Rough Sleepers,” offered his thoughts on America’s ever-present attitude towards homelessness: “I think there’s a tendency … to look at them and imagine that they are somehow hopelessly primitive or even alien. And that’s really only because they’re denied or they just don’t have the facilities. For instance … how are you going to make yourself look presentable, stay clean in a city like Boston that has almost no public bathrooms?”
And this lack of resources and facilities for homeless populations is not unique only to Boston — it’s prevalent across the country. Los Angeles and New York, the cities with the highest populations of people experiencing homelessness, are known for their unaffordability and lack of safe and cheap public resources.
The intersection of attitudes and policy is a crucial one to recognize because these two facets drive home the central issue regarding homelessness in the United States: We are not addressing homelessness in a way that is empathetic, effective, and long-lasting. Politicians and the general public choose to berate or ignore the issue, while cities around the country fail to equip unhoused people with the means to get themselves out of their present circumstances. If people and politicians are unwilling to thoroughly recognize the humanitarian crisis unfolding in our cities and everyday lives, our country will continue to see more Americans on the streets rather than in stable homes.
Extreme Weather and Homelessness: A Dangerous Reality
Now, place the current situation of American homelessness under extreme 100+ degree heat. As we have seen globally, 2023 has proven to be Earth’s hottest year ever recorded. With extreme heat comes higher violent crime rates, more health warnings, and overall — a more miserable America. Some of the dangers homeless individuals face due to extreme weather include higher risks of heat stroke, heat exhaustion, insomnia, and an increased risk of illness from food.
In Phoenix, Arizona, unhoused individuals lacking cool areas to rest have received first, second, and third-degree burns from sleeping or laying down on street asphalt, and some of the burns were so severe that they required skin grafts.
Allison Hollmann, Outreach Team Lead at SEARCH Homeless Houston, an organization that works to provide multifaceted services to the unhoused, discussed the summer heat’s consequences in an interview with The HPR. “We get a lot of people who might have been staying outside for a while and they kind of get accustomed to their environment, and they feel like that they’re okay in any situation,” said Hollmann. “It’s really just making sure our clients know the concerns that come with heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and really encouraging them to accept that.”
And while lack of education on the heat adversely affects unhoused individuals, the heat itself causes the most harm. Because the heat is so intense, unhoused Houstonians are sleeping outside their tents at night to stay a little cooler, leading to an increase in mosquito bites, which is yet another factor SEARCH must now take into account. Moreover, something as innocent as pre-packaged food can now be dangerous as well. “What we are seeing an uptick in is food poisoning,” said Hollman, “what we think is happening … our clients can receive to-go and dinners and meals in certain places, and … they’re saving some meals for a later date and [those meals] are spoiling in the heat. They’re getting food poisoning, which is not something that we’ve seen a whole lot of.”
Are Cities Doing Enough?
Yes and no. Interestingly, Houston, TX is leading the country in addressing homelessness — despite the severe temperatures they experience on a daily basis. Because Houston has invested considerable time and resources in addressing the issue of permanent housing for homeless individuals rather than temporary stays in shelters, they have seen a 60% decrease in homelessness since 2011. Mike Nichols, CEO of Coalition for the Homeless Houston, believes that Houston was able to achieve this primarily by subsidizing rent and providing funding for professional case management.
In an interview with The HPR, Nichols stated that Houston has embraced “part of what is nationally known as the Housing First philosophy,” which Nichols said is “a real house for a person experiencing homelessness.”
“Normally an apartment, with a key and a lock, air conditioning, heating, a kitchen, a bedroom, and a lease in their name … that’s a real place. It’s not a tiny home, it’s not a temporary shelter, it’s not a car, it’s not a place where 20 people sleep together. It is a real place.”
Los Angeles, as mentioned before as having some of the highest rates of homelessness, is also trying to address the issue by promising 3,000 new drug and mental health treatment beds to unhoused individuals. Although, this once again begs the question if these steps will do enough to help address the issue.
Recognizing Cities’ Failures
Local governments need to do more to protect and serve their unhoused populations in the midst of extreme temperatures. Unhoused individuals are still struggling to get through each day when accompanied with limited resources — particularly due to cities’ lack of supplying water and cooling products.
In an interview with The HPR, Sara, an unhoused Houston resident, said “We bought 40 pounds of ice the other day. Within the next day or two, it was already melted … We’re going through ice like it’s nothing, and trying to keep water on hand is hard because we’re going through it faster than we can get it.”
“It’s to the point where you don’t even want to eat, it’s so hot” said Laurie, another unhoused Houstonian, when interviewed by The HPR and asked about the extreme temperatures.
July 2023, the month when many of these interviews took place, stands to be the hottest month ever recorded in history, with temperatures in the American South regularly soaring past 100 degrees.
“I thought last year was hot, and it was hot last year, but it’s not like it is this year … You can’t explain it,” Laurie said to The HPR when asked about the extreme temperatures. “There’s no breeze. You wake up wet. You walk outside, stand there for two minutes, and you are soaking wet. And from just the sweat, you’re soaking wet. I don’t know how a lot of people out here are going to make it.”
Laurie said that the heat has particularly taken a massive toll on the elderly. “We had one guy die out there … he was laid outside of his tent, asleep, and somebody tried to wake him up to talk to him, and he had already died. And it’s like … that’s a scary thought.”
In Texas, a record of more than 300 people died from heat in 2023.
“I don’t think half of them even know what we go through out there, because they just all look at us and think ‘Oh, well, they’re homeless, you know, they want to be’ … and it’s like, no, there’s different reasons behind why we’re here,” replied Laurie when I asked her about cities’ attitudes to homelessness in general. “We don’t want to be out there, most of us don’t, but we just need a little help. And sometimes the cities … yeah, we get pushed to the back”
Sara and Laurie believe that opening up more cooling centers as well as providing more hydration resources would help to address the problem — particularly drinks like Gatorade that would help to replenish their electrolytes given high levels of perspiration that occur during the daytime.
While the most immediate and pressing needs such as hydration must be addressed, the bigger issue is the U.S.’ tendency toward reactionary solutions that act as a bandaid. Providing food and water to people on a case-by-case basis, for example, is part of the issue with the way the U.S. attempts to treat homelessness, acting prescriptive rather than long-term. “We need more shelters [people say],” Nichols stated to The HPR “… what we found is these temporary emergency transitional shelters are very expensive to run and they don’t solve any real problems.”
Making Change
What both policymakers and city planners must consider is that homelessness and climate change are connected. With global warming making cities increasingly vulnerable due to extreme weather such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes, more people will continue to be displaced due to the drastic effects of climate.
The UN estimates that around 23 million people are displaced due to climate change and weather hazards, and this number could continue to grow if precautions are not made to address our global climate crisis as well as create adaptive policies for vulnerable populations. Moreover, while unhoused people require resources to help them survive through extreme summers and winters, we must ultimately address the deeper issue of transitioning them from unstable living conditions to stable and secure ones.
That said, if climate change isn’t addressed, extreme heat will not be the only issue facing unhoused populations. Changing the public’s perception of those who are experiencing homelessness may be the most critical — yet difficult — task of all.
“[People] tend to ignore them because it’s not very comfortable once you realize that these people are every bit as human as you. Then you have to ask yourself, well, then how can we allow this?” Kidder asks passionately.
“The politicians can demonize people and talk about who deserves what, but the fact of the matter is they’re human, absolutely human.”
