Urban Myths on Homelessness and the Facts to Counter Them

In advocating and working toward a more just housing system, we often encounter a variety of misinformed opinions about the realities of people experiencing homelessness. Many of these opinions can come to dominate the discourse around the issue of homelessness, and can obfuscate the solutions and people working to achieve a better system. Our mission and hopes for our neighbors cannot be achieved without the community we work in supporting us, whether that is through our invaluable partnerships with other nonprofit organizations and community based organizations, or through our extensive volunteer network or through our donors.

That's why we've compiled these common myths and put them against the facts. These facts are becoming more and more important to disseminate to our community, as people facing homelessness face more hardships and pushback from the community at large, all while our housing system becomes more and more inequitable and unstable. Read through these varying myths and the facts that disprove them so you can be better prepared to inform your friends, families and neighbors about the realities of housing and homelessness. Our voices matter, and we should all strive to use them to advocate for and support those who are suffering from the systemic inequities that continue to harm our community.