Picture yourself walking down the street when you see a homeless man resting on the side with a sign asking for money. You reach into your pocket, dig for spare change, walk up to the man, and sprinkle the change into his jar. He smiles and thanks you, and you walk away feeling satisfied and fulfilled. 

In reality, your spare change hardly made a ripple in the United States’ colossal homelessness crisis.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness defines homelessness as “people who are living in a place not meant for human habitation, in emergency shelter, in transitional housing, or are exiting an institution where they temporarily resided.”

Sarah Hunter, a senior behavioral and social scientist at RAND Corporation, described the magnitude of the homelessness crisis.

“Homelessness is a big issue because it’s a pervasive public health problem in our country that hasn’t gotten any better over the last decade. If anything, it’s gotten worse,” Hunter said.

To read more about homelessness in America, click below.