Each year, 600,000 families and 1.35 million children experience homelessness in the United States. ¹ The Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania reports that up to 50,000 people experience homelessness in a given year in Pennsylvania.² The Pennsylvania Department of Education estimates that 30,000 homeless children live in the state.³ Single women and families constitute a growing segment of this population. In the Philadelphia region, 33% of families headed by single mothers live under the official poverty line.⁴ The Blueprint Report prepared by the Chester County Fund for Women and Girls points out that a lack of affordable housing is a major factor contributing to homelessness. In Chester County alone, 20.4% of female-headed households with children under 18 live below the poverty level.⁵ The 2006 Self-Sufficiency Standard for Pennsylvania reports that among the five counties that HOS serves, a single adult with a preschool-age child would need to earn between $31,807 and $41,512 annually in order to meet basic living expenses and remain self-sufficient.⁶

Ninety-eight percent of the women who come to HOS are unemployed. Most have minimal education or job training and little chance of gaining employment. Those with jobs typically work at minimum wage, leaving them well below the poverty line struggling each day to survive.

Over 75% of the women who come to us are escaping domestic violence. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that "victims often return to their batterers when a viable option for permanent housing cannot be found." Women and their children will often experience multiple periods of homelessness as they leave and return to their abusers many times before finally escaping the violence.⁷ It is essential that we provide abused women and their children with a safe environment where they can receive supportive counseling and the concrete educational training that they need to achieve independence.

Over 60% of the children Home of the Sparrow serves are under age five.The instability brought about by homelessness can have serious repercussions for their development. Homelessness and poverty among young children has been correlated with low educational achievement, problems in cognitive development, poor physical health, low self-esteem, depression and aggression.⁸

Home of the Sparrow offers homeless women and children a supportive environment within which they can make the changes that will enable them to achieve independence. We offer a place for women to develop the skills and confidence they need to increase their incomes, strengthen their relationships with their children and attain their goals.

¹Promising Strategies to End Family Homelessness. National Alliance to End Homelessness, June 2006.
²Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania. http://www.housingalliancepa.org/AboutUs/Mission_&_Accomplishments.htm
³2006 Pennsylvania Department of Education Student Services Statistics www.pde.state.pa.us/svcs_students/
⁴ Change of Pace Survey. Published by Women's Way in partnership with The Alice Paul Center for Research on Women and Gender. University of Pennsylvania and Solutions for Progress, Inc. (2004 Update).
⁵Blueprint Report, Chester County Fund for Women and Girls, 2005.
⁶The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Pennsylvania, 5th ed. Prepared for Pathways PA. May 2006.
⁷The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) is dedicated to the empowerment of battered women and their children
⁸Shore, Rima. Rethinking the Brain: Insights Into Early Development. NY, NY: Families and Work Institute, 1997.