“Homelessness is a symptom of systemic poverty” (http://www.kansascity.com/). As one of our country's biggest social problems, homelessness is often in the news (http://www.ebooks.com/). Many are seeking refuge for the first time. The Homeless Coalition of Greater Kansas City reports that on any given night, up to 3,000 adults are homeless and more than 7,500 children are homeless on these Kansas City streets. Since 2011, more than 7 percent of people living in the state of Kansas City have become homeless. We are actually not sure why this rate has increased over the last 2 years. Maybe due to a bad economy and job losses. The most common people considered homeless are: Victims of domestic violence, after deciding to leave an abusive relationship they often don't know where to go for those who have few resources. Lack of money to afford housing and long waiting lists for supported housing mean that women and/or women and their families are forced to choose between domestic abuse and life on the streets. In 2010, 344 victims of domestic violence were counted as protected and 12 were not protected out of a total of 437 (see Table A1). In 2009, 108 were protected and 13 were not. (See table A2). The chronically homeless (see Table B1), the mentally ill (see Table B2), and victims of substance abuse (see Table B3) are groups of people who are commonly homeless. Additionally, people with HIV/AIDS (see Table C1) often suffer from depression and are suicidal, reducing their likelihood of continuing to take the medications needed to treat HIV/AIDS. The cost of healthcare and medications for people living with HIV/AIDS is often too high for people to keep up. They are also at risk of losing their jobs due to health-related discrimination or absences. Anus......middle of paper......endent giving them a sense of freedom once again. Meanwhile, non-profit organizations have continued to try to respond to the problem as government agencies do in the future. Efforts to provide emergency shelter increase and become institutionalized; transitional housing programs arose; some "prevention" programs will be tested. One problem that may arise is that people who are not at or below the poverty level to receive this type of assistance will soon try to do so. Many will try to lose their jobs and/or quit so they can earn less than before, so they can apply for welfare, section 8 vouchers, food stamps, etc. What could cause homelessness rates to rise again? We're not sure yet, we Kansas City residents will just have to wait and see what the future holds and plan to end homelessness in the metro area.