Throughout this month, we have shared many aspects of the causes of homelessness in Indiana, how homelessness is being felt across our state in rural and urban settings, and what issues our unhoused population faces right here in La Porte County. We’ve shared facts and data, heartbreaking statistics, and calls to action, and while we’ve been respectful in talking about these things, we haven’t really talked about the people experiencing homelessness in our community and across the state. Today, we want to look at who is most commonly unhoused in Indiana and the causes that lead these people to become unhoused.
We will cover not only what the data tells us but also what we see at La Porte County’s only emergency shelter. To protect our guests’ privacy, we will share a few common trends we tend to see, but none of these scenarios are based on any single guest’s story.
The Working Family
Did you know that the rate of unhoused families rose across the U.S. by 39% between 2023 and 2024, according to HUD? That is the largest increase of any specific group counted in those years. In Indiana, roughly 30% of those experiencing homelessness are people in families with children or who have a minor in their care.
So what does this look like here in our community? This looks like a two-parent household with two children. Mom and Dad work full-time plus part-time. Between rent, child care, groceries, and food, they’re barely getting by. Then an unexpected expense brings things to a halt- a car repair, an expensive prescription, a pair of broken glasses. With both parents making near or minimum wage, this unexpected expense wipes them out; there is no extra to “catch up.” This bump in the road leads to late or missed rent payments, which can lead to eviction and leave our fictional family unhoused.
Rehousing isn’t easy for this family either. With a significant lack of truly affordable housing in La Porte County, the market is tight. When we bring in an eviction, now we have another roadblock. To rent a new apartment, most leases require first month’s rent, last month’s rent, a security deposit, and an application fee. This will cost our family thousands of dollars they don’t have to get rehoused.
The irony is they’re working, paying bills, but it’s not enough; they slip into homelessness faster than they ever expected.
The Older Adult
About 1 in 5 individuals experiencing homelessness are older adults (55+). These individuals most likely planned for this stage of life and were set to live on a fixed income. However, with the rising costs, they’ve now been priced out of their home. How does this happen?
We see this segment of the population very commonly in our community. They find themselves living in rented accommodation. An illness or the death of a spouse happens, draining savings and pushing finances to the brink. This generation is thrifty, and they are making every penny they can to get by. Then one day it simply isn’t enough: another rent increase, a new medication with an out-of-pocket cost, and the scale tips. The cost of living has outpaced what they can afford. They become unhoused for the first time in their lives in their 60s, 70s, or older. Without family nearby to take them in, they arrive at our shelter seeking refuge.
These are individuals who worked their whole lives, maybe had savings that didn’t stretch as planned, or counted on two incomes to make the math work. Options for work are limited, especially for those who are medically fragile.
This is the second-fastest-growing population of unhoused people in the United States and a large portion of what we see in our community.
The Young Adult
Between the ages of 18 and 24, a person is classified as a young adult. According to the IHCDA 2025 Balance of State Report, over 1 in 5 people counted in Indiana were 24 years old or younger. This is another common demographic among unhoused individuals and perhaps the hardest to spot and count. This age group can look a little different from others, as it includes people known for couch surfing, staying with friends or family, and sleeping where they can on any given night.
This population can commonly look like a foster child who had nowhere to land once they aged out of the system, or they’re fleeing from a family conflict; perhaps they’ve been kicked out of the house but are not self-sufficient yet. This group hasn’t had the chance to build stability as an adult, and now they’re fighting for survival, food, and a safe place to sleep.
This group is the hardest to spot because they are often what we call hidden homeless. They’re not commonly counted on the street for the annual PIT count because they’re crashing on a friend’s couch. When they’re not counted, funds aren’t allocated to support services that help this group. We often see this group: young men and women who haven’t had the chance to set up their lives and are already starting well behind the starting line.
The Common Thread
A working mom, a 73-year-old man, and a 19-year-old young adult just getting started- what do these three people have in common? In this blog, they’re all part of a segment of the population that is increasingly becoming unhoused in our state and nationally. Each of these individuals lives with a minuscule margin for error and in a system not built for second chances or grace periods. They live in a housing system that’s rising too quickly to catch up, and they rely on shelters like ours to be there for them so no one has to sleep on the streets. These aren’t people who have planned poorly or lived irresponsibly; they’ve simply been priced out of their lives, and they are becoming alarmingly more common in our community.
Each of these stories that we’ve shared, while not based upon any single guest at Nest, is tragically common. We exist as a true emergency shelter for our community so that our neighbors don’t have to spend that first night, or any night, out on the streets. We work with our guests, connect them to services, provide case management, and help them develop a plan to return to homes of their own. This is what we’ve done for the past 25 years: be there for those in our community who need us most.
