homeless, the

homeless people/persons. "Street people" is acceptable when used respectfully. Laurel Weir (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty) says, "It is the Law Center's policy to say 'homeless persons' or 'homeless people' rather than 'the homeless.' We believe it's important to recognize they are people first. By using the word homeless as an adjective, rather than a noun, we recognize homelessness as a time-limited condition, rather than a permanent state of being." "People who are homeless are not social inadequates. They are people without houses" (Sheila McKechnie). Avoid stereotypes ("shiftless") and misinformation ("they choose to live on the streets") and remember one in four persons reported as homeless is a child younger than 18 (Children's Defense Fund, The State of America's Children Yearbook). Of homeless mothers, about 92% have been physically and/or sexually abused (E.L. Bessuk, in Scientific American). Advocates estimate that about 40% of homeless youth are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, thrown to the streets by their families. In addition to children, homeless individuals include those who hold down jobs but cannot afford housing and those with a mental or physical condition or a drug addiction. Veterans account for 7% of homeless adults. On any given night, about 58,000 veterans, mostly men, are sleeping on the streets or in homeless shelters. Attempts have been made in many areas to criminalize sleeping and sitting, panhandling, and even food sharing, all aimed at homeless people. However, the United Nations International Declaration of Human Rights includes the right to "basic shelter for all" and, so far, homelessness is not in itself a crime in the U.S. See also bag lady/bag man (homeless), "the," veteran.