Lack of affordable housing and employment as well as under-employment are the leading causes of homelessness, but leaving home to escape domestic violence or abuse is also a major factor.

Lack of stable housing, employment, and transportation are the biggest challenges for homeless people. Affordable housing options are limited. Work itself is not easy to find. Those with mental illness, disabilities, or criminal backgrounds face additional challenges to finding both work and housing.

Homelessness exacerbates the problems that may have led to homelessness and makes stability even more difficult to achieve. These problems include mental illness, physical illness, substance abuse, and difficulty finding and maintaining employment. Homeless people are often isolated and lack the social support of friends and family.

• Housing First initiatives
• Increase employment opportunities
• Transitional shelters
• Job training
• Create affordable housing options
• Assistance to families at risk of homelessness
• Provide basic needs assistance

• Engage with the people you see on the street
• Learn more about local issues
• Support the efforts of advocacy groups
• Volunteer

The data presented in this infographic was collected on January 26, 2012 and identified 250 homeless people of whom 207 completed a survey. Each year the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless (TJACH) conducts its annual prevalence count of the area homeless population in Charlottesville and surrounding counties. The intent of the Point-In-Time (PIT) survey is to quantify the current homeless population and housing inventory. Surveys were administered to homeless individuals at soup kitchens, transitional and emergency shelters, day shelters, and in tent communities, local parks, and on the streets. Note that homeless families are more likely to make informal - if tenuous - arrangements with family and friends instead of turning to local emergency shelters. As a consequence, families and children are not well represented in this data.