Discover How Federal Funding and Local Initiatives Are Driving Systemic Changes to Address Racial Inequities in Homeless Services
Systemic racism. Implicit and explicit biases. Misogyny. Sexism. Ableism. These are all issues that homeless service providers have to grapple with to provide adequate support for their clients. While these issues are not new to homeless services, some providers are taking advantage of the billions of federal dollars available to redress the long-standing problems of racial disparities.
The efforts are happening across the spectrum, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s push to include equity metrics in its continuum of care funding to state and local efforts to address population-specific issues.
Dr. Chan Crawford, the chief equity officer at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, told Invisible People in an interview that these efforts also represent a movement within homeless services to undo the discriminatory practices that have kept many people from accessing the help they need.
“It’s about understanding what we mean by ‘justice’ and how equity falls into that,” Crawford said.
Defining Racial Disparities in Homeless Services
Racial disparities in homeless services are typically defined in two ways. First is the representation of people of color and Indigenous folks experiencing homelessness compared to the broader population. For example, federal data shows Black, African American, and Indigenous people make up about 37% of the people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. despite comprising just 13% of the overall population. These disparities can vary depending on the source of the data.
Disparities can also be seen in local data regarding who accesses homeless services. Data from the Homeless Management Information System shows that White people are most likely to access homeless services while people of color often do not. Crawford said the range of disparities shows why simultaneously tackling the issue from the federal, state, and local levels is necessary.
Statewide Efforts to Address Racial Disparities
To address these issues, some states, like Illinois and Minnesota, have developed statewide strategies to reduce racial disparities in homeless services and improve people’s health.
In Illinois, a report conducted by the University of Illinois – Chicago’s Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy found that black people in the state have fewer options for stable housing, suitable employment, quality health care, and affordable child care compared to White people.
In April, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced an earmark of roughly $250 million in the state’s 2025 budget to address systemic inequalities in homeless services. That funding includes $35 million in rental assistance, $13 million for reducing racial disparities in homeless services, and $2 million to bolster legal aid for people facing eviction.
This is happening at a time when the latest federal snapshot data shows that people of color make up 50% of the people experiencing homelessness in Illinois compared to just 40% of the overall population.
“Our approach understands that homelessness is not an issue of personal failing, but of historical discrimination and structural barriers that have driven inequality for Black families across the nation, and of course, right here in Illinois,” Pritzker said at the time.
Minnesota also launched a project called “Crossroads to Justice,” a statewide initiative that aims to reduce homelessness statewide by 15% and reduce racial disparities in homeless services. Efforts range from providing better workforce development programs to increasing access to healthy foods and affordable housing. People experiencing homelessness are included as consultants in the project’s implementation phase.
Local Initiatives to Reduce Disparities
There are also local efforts happening across the country. One example is Sonoma County, California, a wealthy and mostly White county outside of Sacramento. There, the Sonoma County Homeless Coalition, which includes members from local politicians to service providers and subject matter experts, has developed a three-pronged plan to reduce racial disparities in homeless services.
First, the plan aims to give local service providers access to training materials so they can identify gaps in their services. The plan also calls for creating a way for people to report suspected discrimination by service providers and changes to how homeless people are prioritized for housing and services.
Jennilynn Holmes, who leads Sonoma County’s Homeless Coalition, told Invisible People that the work is important because it gives people a seat at the table that they otherwise wouldn’t have been given.
“We’ve held a lot of conversations with the community where you can see people becoming physically and emotionally ill when they are reliving their trauma of experiencing discrimination or racism in homeless services,” Holmes said. “We don’t need to create additional trauma for the people we’re supposed to help.”
How You Can Help
The pandemic proved that we need to rethink housing in the United States. It also showed that providing additional support and protections for renters is a clear-cut way to reduce future increases in homelessness.
That’s why we need you to contact your officials and representatives. Tell them you support keeping many of the pandemic-related aid programs in place for future use. They have proven effective at keeping people housed, which is the first step to ending homelessness.
