Homelessness in the U.S. continues to be, as the U.S. bishops have declared, "a human tragedy and a moral challenge," calling us all to pay attention to all those who suffer daily from the lack of adequate and safe housing. The U.S. Department of Housing's 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment Report estimates that on any night in 2023, over 650,000 — more than half a million people — were homeless, a 12% increase (or about 70,650 more people) from 2022. Catholic social teaching has long proclaimed that the right to decent housing is a basic human right, and Catholic sisters support many church-related programs for the homeless as well as regularly advocate for legislation to promote the building of low-income housing.
In 2023, more than 40,000 unaccompanied youth were reported to be experiencing homelessness in the United States. The number is growing because of young immigrants and refugees in the U.S. who have been separated from their families and are now unaccompanied. In diverse programs around the U.S., Catholic sisters recognize the many needs of the population and model how to be present to them emotionally as well as help them in practical ways.
Ask you students to take out paper and pens.
Ask them to do the following:
List 6-8 objects in your room and your home that are important to you. What would you want to take with you if you had to leave and could only carry a limited amount?
Then list the minimum toiletries and clothing you will need if you had to live on your own, out of a backpack.
Finally, make the hard decision of exactly what you will take with you in your backpack if you had to leave your home by yourself and could only take what you could easily carry. Make your final list.
Share in small groups what you would take and why.
What would you lack and how would this lack impact you emotionally as well as practically?
As you move forward with just a backpack, what would your life look like in the days, months and years ahead as you struggle with homelessness?
What has this activity helped you realize about young adults who are homeless?
We are grateful, O Lord, for the houses we live in, which protect us and support our lives as we grow and mature. We pray for all the young people who do not have the blessing of a home, who live in anxiety and fear about where they will sleep tonight. We pray we may be able to contribute, in any small way, to a better life for all those who seek a safe and secure home. Hear our prayer, O Lord, and bless all your children. Amen.
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