Consider the data — in McDonough County:
23.3% of the population lives in poverty.
African Americans make up about 4.7% of the general population but represent 53.77% of Macomb citizens living in poverty.
One factor in homelessness is called network impoverishment. Network impoverishment is when you live in predominantly poor neighborhoods or when you don't have people with resources who can help you when you have a financial emergency. POC have less accumulated wealth. Traditionally this has been rooted in home ownership. So if you don't have your own emergency fund, and don't have family or friends who can help you out, chances are higher you will end up homeless if a medical emergency, layoff, pandemic, etc. happens.
I was technically homeless with a young child once in 1991. I moved in with somebody temporarily and stayed for 30 years. I wasn't overly worried, well maybe I was, about staying homeless, because I knew my parents would always help me out, and often did. I just hated asking. Economic security is something I probably take for granted, but try not to. I have spent most of my career working with people at or below the poverty line, so I have seen firsthand what homelessness and housing insecurity looks like.
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