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Fact List
The Faces of Homelessness
- On any given day in Mercer County, over 834 people experience homelessness.
(Homeless Resource Advisory Council, HRAC,
COC 2006)
- Homeless survey snapshots from February 2002 through August 2004 by HRAC show 3 relatively consistent
numbers of sheltered homeless in Mercer County: See links to recent surveys. (2003 Survey) (2004 Survey)
- According to HomeFront, a key provider of homeless services in
Mercer County, the average age of those receiving services from their
agency is seven years old.
- Over the course of a year, more than 3,000 men, women, and children in Mercer County receive services in the homeless system. (Mercer County Homeless Resources Advisory Council (HRAC)
- Approximately 20% of homeless children do not attend school regularly. (Homes for the
Homeless)
- 47% of homeless children have problems with depression, anxiety, or withdrawal from their surroundings, as opposed to 18% of children with homes. (Homes For the Homeless)
- Homeless children are twice as likely to experience hunger than non-homeless children. (Homes For the Homeless)
Housing vs. Income
- New Jersey has been one of the least affordable states in the country for the last four years.
(2000-2004 NLIHC “Out of Reach Reports”)
- The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Mercer County is
$1,022.(National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) 2005 “Out of Reach Report”)
- A person making minimum wage ($6.15) in New Jersey would have to work
17 hours a day, 7 days a week or 116 hours per week to afford a 2 bedroom apartment in Mercer County.
(2005 NLH “Out of Reach Report”)
- Full-time workers earning $8/hour net $1,252 per month. If they spend
$1,022 of their income on an average two-bedroom apartment, they are left with only
$230 a month for other basic costs. (HomeFront)
- A wage earner should make $40,880 to afford housing in Mercer County NLIHC
(2005 “Out of Reach Report” )
- 42% of New Jersey households earn less than $30,000 (2003 Consolidated Plan of New Jersey Department of Community Affairs).
- 20% of Mercer households earn less than $25,000 - 14,218 people in the
suburbs and 11,801 people in Trenton.(200 Census, Housing and
Community Development Network of NJ)
- In 2006, 20% of New Jersey residents will earn $25,000 or less per year. (New Jersey State Department of Labor)
Costs of Homelessness
- Government entities spend approximately $75 per night, or about
$2,300 a month, to place one family in an area low-budget motel or homeless shelter. (Mercer County Board of Social
Services - 2005)
- The Mercer County Board of Social Services alone spends more than $8-$12 million per year for emergency services.
- 59% of homeless families visit hospital emergency rooms at least once a year. (National Coalition for the Homeless)
- Homeless people spend, on average, four days longer as inpatients than non-homeless people. The average cost of this increase is $2,414 per hospitalization.
- A bed in a New Jersey state prison averages $28,000 per year (NJ Department of Corrections)
Housing Need
- Half a million households in New Jersey either pay more than recognized standard of 30% of income for housing, or live in deteriorated or dilapidated housing or are living in overcrowded conditions. (US CENSUS 2000)
- Affordable housing stock in Trenton has decreased by more than 6% a year; while county-wide the vacancy rate is less than 1%. (A 5% vacancy rate is desirable to adequately meet the housing needs of a community)
- According to the 2004 Gaps Analysis of the Continuum of Care, there is an inventory of 1,966 households in emergency, transitional and permanent supportive housing in Mercer County and an unmet need of 2079 household units. Of the 2079 homeless need figure 792 are single individuals and 1287 are households with children. (2004 Trenton/Mercer Continuum of Care)
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