The women and children that we serve are often victims of their environment. Many of the homeless women who come to live at Sheffield Place are undereducated, lack job skills, live in poverty and have been abused by a husband or boyfriend or other family member at some point in their lives. At Sheffield Place we help our mothers address and resolve these underlying issues so that they can become self-sufficient and create a home for their families. By helping the mothers, we help break the cycle of poverty, abuse and homelessness and give their children a chance.

Below are some general statistics that establish the ever increasing need for our community to provide assistance to homeless mothers and their children.

Homelessness

• Kansas City has the seventh largest population of homeless people per capita in the U.S.
• On any given day in Kansas City, Missouri, an average of 615 families with 1,511 children is homeless.  When annualized, homelessness affects more than 20,000 people in Kansas City; mothers and children make up more than 56% of this number.  
• The average age of a homeless person today is 9.
• Each night in America, roughly half of all children seeking shelter do not find it.
• Homeless children are twice as likely to be held back in school as non-homeless children.
• IN 1997, Congress passed legislation limiting the number of years that families can receive welfare payments to five years. The clock is ticking, what will happen to these families and their children when time runs out?
  

Contributing Factors

• Over 30% of homeless families have an open case for crimes such as child abuse, domestic violence, incest or neglect.
• Nearly 50% of homeless children either have witnessed or have been subjected to violence in their home.
• In 1998, 46% of cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors identified domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness.