Most research shows that around 1/3 of people who are homeless have problems with alcohol and/or drugs, and around 2/3 of these people have lifetime histories of drug or alcohol use disorders. According to SAMHSA, 38% of homeless people abused alcohol while 26% abused other drugs.
Homelessness is increasingly an aging population, with 23 percent, 324,512 people, over the age of 50, according to the Homelessness Research Institute. Meanwhile 84 percent of the unsheltered self report having some form of health challenge. Mental health affects 78 percent and substance abuse affects 74 percent of those without shelter. Surveys show 50 percent suffer from all three simultaneously.
Every night thousands of Americans are putting their lives at risk by sleeping on the street. No one thinks they will end up homeless and the experience can be traumatic when it does happen. An estimated 552,830 Americans are homeless and needlessly suffering tonight, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.