The number of rural homeless rose 57 percent from 2007 to 2010, according to national data about homelessness, and the lack of resources in rural places leads many to search for help in urban centers where opportunities for temporary housing, food and job-training are more readily available. Rose Krzton-Presson of WKMS-FM, the public station at Murray State University, reported about the rural homeless issues facing Kentuckians in the state's far west.
The Kentucky Housing Corporation funds about 50 projects for the homeless in 118 Kentucky counties. There were 325 homeless people in the Pennyrile and Purchase areas of Western Kentucky, according to the KHC's annual census of homeless people. Krzton-Presson reported that young women who are single mothers or survivors of domestic abuse comprise the majority of rural homeless in the state. "Precarious housing," or living in cars, condemned buildings, barns or with relatives, is another prominent feature of rural homelessness in the state, she reports.
Homeless woman Michelle Thomas said the public needs to overcome the old stereotype of homelessness, which is a 40-something man with a substance abuse problem, Krzton-Presson reported. Thomas said this image creates problems when asking the public for help. "They have that same old mental picture of somebody in a cardboard box with a brown paper bag. That’s not the face of homelessness anymore," Thomas said. (Read more)
The Kentucky Housing Corporation funds about 50 projects for the homeless in 118 Kentucky counties. There were 325 homeless people in the Pennyrile and Purchase areas of Western Kentucky, according to the KHC's annual census of homeless people. Krzton-Presson reported that young women who are single mothers or survivors of domestic abuse comprise the majority of rural homeless in the state. "Precarious housing," or living in cars, condemned buildings, barns or with relatives, is another prominent feature of rural homelessness in the state, she reports.
Homeless woman Michelle Thomas said the public needs to overcome the old stereotype of homelessness, which is a 40-something man with a substance abuse problem, Krzton-Presson reported. Thomas said this image creates problems when asking the public for help. "They have that same old mental picture of somebody in a cardboard box with a brown paper bag. That’s not the face of homelessness anymore," Thomas said. (Read more)
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