homelessness
Lacking permanent shelter
Homelessness is the condition of lacking stable, permanent housing.
It ranges from sleeping on streets to staying in shelters to couch-surfing with friends.
The term encompasses both the immediate state and the broader social problem: The city launched new initiatives to address homelessness.
Someone experiencing homelessness may be called homeless, though advocates sometimes prefer "unhoused" or "people experiencing homelessness" to emphasize the temporary or circumstantial nature of the condition.
Having no overhead protection
- unhousedLacking stable housing
- encampmentsTemporary group living sites
- doorwaysFramed openings for passage
- alleywaysNarrow urban passages
benches · underpasses · cardboard · makeshift · blankets · tarpaulins · sidewalks · parks
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
- penuryExtreme lack of money
- privationLack of necessities
squalor · hunger · malnutrition · unemployment · inequality · underclass · debt · economic
Serious sudden danger
- epidemicWidespread disease occurrence
- humanitarianHelper of suffering people
- plightDifficult, dangerous situation
- desperationUtter loss of hope
suffering · hardship · vulnerable · neglect · destitution · hopelessness · struggle · survival
Forced departure from rental
- addictionCompulsive substance reliance
- mental-illnessCondition affecting psychological wellbeing
- incarcerationConfinement in jail
- reentryComing back in
disability · PTSD · veterans · discrimination · gentrification · wages · cost-of-living · systemic
Pleading for a cause
- awarenessState of perceiving reality
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- outreachProactive community assistance
- welfareComfort and prosperity
subsidized · zoning · shelters · transitional · vouchers · HUD · wraparound · prevention
unsheltered
Having no overhead protection
- unhousedLacking stable housing
- encampmentsTemporary group living sites
- doorwaysFramed openings for passage
alleyways · benches · underpasses · cardboard · makeshift · blankets · tarpaulins · sidewalks · parks · survival
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
- penuryExtreme lack of money
privation · squalor · hunger · malnutrition · unemployment · inequality · underclass · debt · economic · foreclosure
emergency
Serious sudden danger
- epidemicWidespread disease occurrence
- humanitarianHelper of suffering people
- plightDifficult, dangerous situation
desperation · suffering · hardship · vulnerable · neglect · destitution · hopelessness · struggle · survival · marginalized
eviction
Forced departure from rental
- addictionCompulsive substance reliance
- mental-illnessCondition affecting psychological wellbeing
- incarcerationConfinement in jail
reentry · disability · PTSD · veterans · discrimination · gentrification · wages · cost-of-living · systemic
advocacy
Pleading for a cause
- awarenessState of perceiving reality
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- outreachProactive community assistance
welfare · subsidized · zoning · shelters · transitional · vouchers · HUD · wraparound · prevention · intervention
nomadic
Without fixed residence
unsettled · migratory · transient · temporary · unstable · couch-surfing · motel · hidden · episodic · chronic
- living conditionshousing, income, employment, healthcare access, education access
- social issuesinequality, racism, poverty, illiteracy, child labor
- global issuesclimate change, water scarcity, inequality, pandemics, poverty
- money troublesdebt relief, bad debt, bankruptcy filing, paycheck to paycheck, struggling
- 1980s AmericaRonald Reagan, Reagan, Iran-Contra, Contras, Sandinistas
- alienationestrangement, social isolation, disconnection, exclusion, outsider
homelessnesshousing security
Protected right to shelter
security · stability · rootedness · permanent residence · permanence
homelessnessbelonging
State of fitting in
inclusion · social integration · citizenship · enfranchisement
home, homeless, homely, homeland, homer, homesick, homeowner, homecoming, homestead