Homelessness
Homelessness in the U.S. has reached record highs in recent years, with on average over 770,000 people experiencing homelessness each night. This is driven largely by rising housing costs, a crumbling social infrastructure, and extreme economic disparities.
Types of Homelessness
| Types | |
|---|---|
| Chronic | People who which to live a home-bound lifestyle, but are experiencing long-term homelessness, often associated extreme economic injustice and social fragmentation. |
| Episodic | People who would prefer a home-bound lifestyle, but are experiencing periods of homelessness interspersed with times of stable housing. |
| Transitional | Temporary homelessness, often due to a crisis or life change. |
| Hidden | People who would prefer a home-bound lifestyle, but are homeless and undocumented by the surrounding home-bound society. |
| Nomadic | Those who choose a lifestyle that is not bound to a single location. They can also be understood as the “Home Free” as opposed to the “Home Bound”. |
People and organizations working on this issue
Rental assistance and rehabilitation loans.
Housing assistance, financial assistance and crisis support, community resource, health and wellbeing, community engagement and education.
Online listings of all types of shelters and housing.
Affordable housing for very low, low and moderate-income families.
Helps low-income tenants with eviction defense, Section 8 issues, mobile home park issues, habitability problems and price gouging.
Petaluma Homelessness Prevention One-time grants for residents of Petaluma, providing rental assistance.
Provide opportunities and support for participants to work toward self-sufficiency, independence, and permanent housing.
Emergency shelter 365 days a year. Intakes for men – Mon-Fri at 11am, for women Mon-Fri at 11am and Sat-Sun at 1pm, ID required.
Local public agency that provides safe, decent and quality affordable housing and supportive services to eligible persons with limited incomes.
Information and assistance, counseling, emergency shelter. Drop In center offers use of computers, laundry, showers, and hot meals. Their services are also available to non-resident homeless.
Women’s drop-in center, resource navigation, hot meals, group activities, and more.
A US HUD report to Congress that provides nationwide estimates of homelessness, including information about the demographic characteristics of homeless persons, service use patterns, and the capacity to house homeless persons. The report is based on Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) data about home-bound people who experience homelessness during a 12-month period, point-in-time counts of people experiencing homelessness on one day in January, and data about the inventory of shelter and housing available in a community.
Resources, counseling, intake for shelters, showers, laundry, telephone, and mail services. Emergency homeless shelter for families.
Emergency shelter, transitional housing and case management.
Homeless Action! Sonoma County is an all-volunteer run and the only local independent homeless advocacy organization in Sonoma County which is not beholden to funders. They are responsible only to the homeless people in our community. Their members, both housed and unsheltered, have life experiences that bring passion and dedication to tbeir work.
Provides free comprehensive fair housing counseling, complaint investigation, and assistance in filing housing discrimination complaints with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). FHANC is a HUD certified to offer pre-purchase counseling and education programs, as well as foreclosure prevention counseling and workshops.
With 30 locations in 15 mostly rural communities in California, Arizona, and Nevada, providing critical services and support to more than 6,800 Veterans annually.
Published: Jun 28, 2026