What makes people homeless? A CWRU study finds a surprising answer

CLEVELAND — How does a person become homeless?

What happened to them before they lived on the streets?

A new study from Case Western Reserve University challenges assumptions about the conditions that create chronic homelessness.

“This story is really about love and caring,” said Meagan Ray-Novak, a research associate and doctoral candidate at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School’s Center for Poverty and Community Development, who led the research.

Care and its costs

Ray-Novak originally studied the intersection of race and gender in chronic homelessness.

But then another theme emerged.

“We asked people very broadly what life was like before they became homeless, and what we found is that the majority of the population had actually experienced some form of loss,” she said. “Some type of death, divorce, separation and caregiving responsibilities that had had a significant impact on their ability to remain in their home.”

She said many of the study’s participants prioritized caring for a loved one, even at the expense of their own personal and financial stability.

Ray-Novak explained, “People are giving up their housing arrangements. They’re either quitting their jobs or losing their jobs to take care of a family member, and it’s a loving thing to do, it’s a positive thing to do, but then coming saying it afterwards is really complicated in ways that we didn’t expect at all.”

“It tells us that people make decisions based on their circumstances,” she said. “But it also tells us that the system is not supporting families in taking care of each other and keeping people out of hospice or keeping them at home.”

Key findings

Ray-Novak’s study involved 40 in-depth interviews with people experiencing chronic homelessness.

That led Ray-Novak to develop a theory called “relational connectedness and value-driven decision-making” to show how personal relationships, including family and friends, play a central role in life choices that have serious consequences.

She found that many participants prioritized family relationships, even when this led to “personal instability”, such as losing jobs and housing.

She found that 35% of participants said the death of a parent, spouse or significant other triggered their homelessness.

Over half said “relational breakdowns” such as separation, divorce and death contributed to their “housing instability”.

Regarding the race and gender dynamics that were the intended topic of the study, Ray-Novak said she found that participants don’t always associate their homelessness with their race or gender, but she noted that systems often respond differently to these identities, especially for black men and women.

Two-thirds of the study’s participants were black men. The survey found that most did not attribute their homelessness to their race, although they acknowledged that racism is pervasive and widespread.

She found that women in the study did not see gender as the primary reason for their lack of housing, but reported widespread sexual exploitation.

She also found that none of the participants regretted their choice to care for a loved one.

“They all said, ‘No. My mom needed me. They were going to put her in hospice. There was no way that was going to happen’.” said Ray-Novak. “It’s great, so I think we should celebrate.”

Eugene’s story

Eugene Sopher, 50, often tells how his talent for art helped him get off the streets.

“The drawing saved my life,” he said. “This was my therapy.”

News 5 first shared his story in 2019, when Sopher was still homeless, and in 2022, when a Chagrin Falls art exhibit featured his cartoon caricatures.

Art exhibition with formerly homeless cartoonist

READ MORE: Chagrin Falls art exhibit features formerly homeless cartoonist

But Sopher said he is rarely asked what happened before he became homeless.

“I was a dead man walking,” he said.

When his mother had a stroke, Sopher said he moved in with her.

“That’s my mother,” he said. “The person who gave me life, that is the person above God.”

But he struggled to keep up with her care, her bills, and his own bills.

“It was important to try to take care of her,” he said. “But I couldn’t.”

When his mother moved to a nursing home, he lost his home.

When she died – in his arms, he said he lost his mind.

“I snapped,” he said.

Grief, he said, exacerbated his mental health problems.

He said he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression.

“Imagine you have none,” he said. “When I lost my mother, that’s how I felt.”

Undercover bum

Sopher described himself as an “undercover bum”.

He said he stayed with friends and relatives until he had worn out his welcome.

Then he lived in his truck.

He got a gym membership — not to work out — but to get access to a bathroom.

Eventually he got better.

“One day I was just sitting back and I got sick and tired of being sick and tired,” he said. “I looked in the mirror and I didn’t like what I saw.”

He said people noticed his art and “everything just lined up for me.”

He now uses his comic art to raise awareness of serious issues including grief and loss.

Homeless man creates coloring book pages with lessons he says children and adults need to hear

READ MORE: Homeless man creates coloring book pages with lessons he says children and adults need to hear

“Like the phoenix, I rise from the ashes and I shine,” he said.