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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

United Methodists have a biblical mandate from Isaiah 58:6-7 to "bring the homeless poor into your house."

"Homelessness is a crisis that strikes at the soul of the nation and the heart of the church," the United Methodist Book of Resolution says. "Homes as a promise to the homeless must be the ongoing commitment of the church. ... Homelessness is a violation of human dignity and an affront to the biblical mandate to do justice. We must use all our power to eliminate the causes of homelessness and to work with others to eradicate it."

Homelessness is a preventable condition that people of faith, acting in partnership with others, can address and resolve, said the Rev. C. Anthony Hunt, superintendent of the Baltimore Metropolitan District.

"'Housing first,' is our approach. It's the next step in addressing the larger issue of poverty. As people of faith, we will need vision, capacity, passion and resources," Hunt concluded. "We can't do this on our own. It's a God-thing."

• Poverty and homelessness are inextricably linked. In 2010, 15.1 percent of the U.S. population, or 46.2 million people, lived in poverty, U.S. Census Bureau figures indicate. The poverty line in 2010 for a family of four was $22,314.
• There are 6,539 homeless people living in Washington, D.C. More than 2,000 are chronically homeless, meaning they have been living in shelters or on the street for more than a year or intermittently for the past three years or more, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• In Baltimore, a 2009 homeless census recorded a minimum of 3,419 homeless individuals, a 12 percent increase from the 2007 census. Of the sheltered homeless population, 41 percent were females and 508 (30.5 percent) of them had children with them while in the shelters. A significant 31 percent of the sheltered population were chronically homeless with substance abuse and mental health issues. The majority of the unsheltered individuals were males. A significant 47 percent were between the ages of 45 and 60 years old.
• Of the 23,000 homeless people in various U.S. cities who were interviewed by the 100,000 Homes Campaign, more than 40 percent suffer from a life-threatening health condition and 45 percent experience mental illness.
• In 2010, 17.2 million households, 14.5 percent of households (approximately one in seven), were food insecure, the highest number ever recorded in the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported.