The Vital Role of Nutrition in Housing, Hunger, and Health Solutions
Every day, the homeless community faces a number of challenges. They must contend with dangers like inadequate shelter and food supplies, limited job opportunities, lack of infrastructural support, and discrimination. To Paul Leon, public health nurse and founder of NHHA, there are two main misconceptions around homelessness.
The biggest misconception is that homeless individuals want to be homeless. Having worked with homeless people for the past 25 years, he can confirm that this is a myth and there is no simple answer to the question “Do you prefer to be homeless?”. Individuals on the street oftentimes have been offered opportunities that never pan out, leaving them feeling lied to and like their chance at success is miniscule.
The second misconception is around who is actually homeless. When a majority of people think of a homeless person, they think of a chronically unsheltered individual with mental health or substance abuse issues. In reality, only a small portion of the homeless population is actually on the street. A majority of them face unstable housing situations, like having to “couchsurf” or live in their cars. Additionally, the image of a stereotypical homeless person is changing. The fastest rising population facing housing insecurity are senior women.
With the threat of a senior homelessness crisis looming, Paul was encouraged to see a funding increase for the Older Americans Act. The Biden-Harris administration outlines ambitious actions to fight against a nutrition-related health crisis, which would be catastrophic when added to the housing crisis. With the number of people turning 65 growing faster than the number of people being born, it is imperative that the healthcare and housing industries address preventive measures today. Left unaddressed, these issues will create a substantial number of homeless seniors in the next 10-15 years. As a Senior Fellow for Health Equity for AARP, Paul is driven to address barriers facing the senior population through his work at NHHA and with organizations at the national level.
Due to the demographics of the client population NHHA is seeing in working with partners, consideration of nutritional health is also crucial to include in their strategies. Geographical access is key to nutrition and increased health; most of the populations NHHA sees live in food deserts. Food deserts are areas where people have families to support and feed, but only have access to a liquor or convenience store. These stores do not offer nutritional and sustainable food, which in the long run, contributes to increased health problems.
As the calendar turns a page on a new year, the intersection of hunger and homelessness drives NHHA’s missions and goals. If you do not have housing, that is a critical healthcare problem. The term "housing" encompasses not only a place to sleep at night, but also food insecurity, financial insecurity, and job instability.
“ Yes, we can fix a broken leg, but if people do not have food and a place to sleep, they do not care about the broken leg.”
- Paul Leon
People now understand that these social determinants of health all interact with each other. As a result, NHHA and others are working to develop more effective solutions to the healthcare and homelessness crisis which is at a breaking point in many communities across the United States.
For more information, please visit these resources:
New Federal Efforts to Address Food and Nutrition Insecurity by JAMA Health