ABSTRACT
The single most critical predictor of homelessness is the proportion of the population employed in the service sector. There is a general consensus among homeless men in the area that a night at the Mission is better than a night at the Pavilion, and the Salvation Army is better still. The Coalition, Christian Service Center, Union Rescue Mission, and Salvation Army are known as the Big Four, and most homeless men in Central Florida have at least some experience with all four of these facilities. Clearly, the majority of homeless men are not homeless because they refuse to work, but rather because no work is available or because the prevailing wage rate is inadequate to sustain them in housing. The data are currently being used by the Coalition in its efforts to get Veterans Affair (VA) support for an expanded facility for homeless men to be built on the current grounds of the Coalition.
