There are approximately 500,000 to 600,000 homeless people (Burt and Cohen, 1989) in the United States. This number is updated to allow a 5% increase a year resulting in an estimate of over 700,000 and up to two million people who experience homelessness during one year.

The National Coalition for the Homeless estimate 760,000 homeless people are on the streets, fifty percent more than were counted in 1988 (National Law Center of Homelessness and Poverty, 1999).

There are over 40,000 homeless people in New York City. More than 23,000 New Yorkers sleep in homeless shelters each night (Andrew Hsiar, "The Disappeared," Village Voice, December 8, 1998). In addition, in 19 major cities, the homeless outnumber the number of shelter beds (John Bacon, "Aggressive Beggars Now a No-No in New York City," USA Today, September 27, 1996).

Despite the difficulty determining the incidence of homelessness, the U. S. Conference of Mayors Report (December, 1998) states that children account for 25% of the homeless population; families with children account for 38% of the homeless population; single adult men account for 45%. Out of this group, 22% are veterans.