Homelessness & Fatherhood.
Bright Path Center
Dedicated to Empowering Vulnerable Communities with Affordable Housing and Comprehensive Support Services
It’s never a goal of any father to be homeless but it unfortunately happens. Navigating homelessness as an individual can trigger unimaginable trauma and challenges but navigating homelessness as a parent brings about its own additional set of challenges and complexities.
• An estimated 55,739 family households were identified as homeless.
• Approximately 16,667 families were living on the street, in a car, or in another place not meant for human habitation.
• An estimated 150,630 family households have used emergency shelter or transitional housing programs.
• 15% of the 2.5 million children experiencing homelessness in the United States come from single-father families. This totals to 600,000 single-father families every year facing homelessness.
Job loss, reduced work hours, illness, domestic violence, an unanticipated bill can lead families to seek help from homeless service programs.
The problem is that many shelters are not set up to serve single fathers. In most cases, they will take a father, but not the father with his children, especially if he has daughters. Most shelters are set up for women and children or men only. This is because many shelters separate men and women in an effort to ensure everyone’s safety. This leaves single fathers facing a crossroad – do they separate from their kids or stay on the streets with them? Should they hope that the few spaces available for single fathers have a bed for them & their children to stay the night?
Single fathers facing homelessness deal with a lot of unique challenges but when you add in homelessness, it can be really tough. They often struggle to find safe, stable housing while obtaining & securing full-time employment to help support their family. On top of all of this, they must take care of their kids and keep them safe. It’s not easy and the stress can wear on the men
For many dads, their parenting often goes unseen, underappreciated or is made more difficult by the system. Here’s to all dads just trying to do right by their kids!