As we prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday next week, the number of people in America who are homeless continues to rise. As of this morning, there were nearly 693,000 homeless people in the United States. That’s according to the annual report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is used as a benchmark for the National Alliance to End Homelessness. However, the Alliance says, “This year’s HUD report shows that the rate of people experiencing homelessness remains at the highest point in at least five years, with over 100,000 new homeless families and youth identified during 2017.” Related Story: These New Yorkers Are Doing Holiday Fund-Raisers For The Homeless The Alliance says that “more than one in eight families and almost one in 30 unaccompanied youth are living without a home. Moreover, a full 30 percent of all homeless people reported that they were disabled, which significantly outnumbers the 15 percent of the overall population reported to be disabled.” Even though the number of homeless families and unaccompanied youth fell a little bit, there are still more than 108,000 homeless people in families. The Alliance says “America’s homeless people are the invisible majority who are at risk of being forgotten during the holiday season. Homelessness occurs in all 50 states, but many areas experience an influx of people experiencing homelessness during the holiday season due to increased demand for limited public and private resources.” But in many of these areas there’s also not much that can be done. In California, the state’s homeless population was up 36.5 percent this year. In New York City, homelessness rose 14 percent and in Colorado, it rose 13 percent. The report also noted that a total of 12.5 million people were living in homelessness in America, or a number 4 percent lower than last year. However, the number of homeless veterans increased by 0.9 percent. The Alliance also points out that many of those living on the streets, the ones that are really struggling, will not find a warm meal on Thanksgiving Day. “The National Center on Family Homelessness recently reported that in a national survey, one in seven homeless youth was in the midst of a period of homelessness longer than six months, while 12 percent of all homeless individuals had been homeless for one year or longer,” the Alliance said. “Of the homeless young people surveyed, 34 percent reported that they were not given enough to eat, while nearly a quarter reported going without food for an entire day or longer at some point during the past year.” The Alliance also noted that homeless students in America represent a growing number and there’s a need to “imagine a different future where they are healthy, well-educated, and living safe, permanent housing.” The Alliance said there are several ways to help. Among them: Call 1-800-733-5422 (HOPELINE) any time for a one-time, up to $30 donation to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Find out what your workplace may be doing by looking at the Corporate Giving Toolkit. Find out how many homeless children and families live near you with the National Center on Family Homelessness Child & Family Count tool. Find out how to help homeless youth during the holiday season at Homeless Youth United. Check out our original series American Work, which explores the changing nature of employment in America and how it impacts workers. Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Missing some content? Care to comment? Check the source: NPR (featured image: Gage Skidmore/Flickr) Share this: Print LinkedIn Pinterest Pocket Reddit Twitter Facebook Tumblr