“What is your name?” I asked.

“Eda,” the woman replied, sitting Indian-style, back against the Pearle Vision facade. Our exchange revealed she was HIV positive, and received sporadic care at a south-side Chicago health clinic. Eda is just one of an estimated 3.5 million homeless Americans. About forth percent are women. Of that total, anywhere from one third to one half have substance abuse issues, and one in five report either domestic abuse or mental illness as the reason for their status. The poor are truly among us, and they are homeless.

The biblical “preferential option for the poor” directed the Jews to provide for the most helpless in Hebrew society--the widow and the orphan. Today, we as Church and as a country must allow our hearts to be softened to the needs of today’s anawim, particularly women. No matter what circumstances brought them to the street, Jesus calls us to seek out the lost in his name.

Both Catholic Charities and Catholic Worker communities have local programs that meet the needs of the homeless, including housing and rehabilitation programs.
www.catholiccharitiesusa.org
www.catholicworker.org

The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill has an online database for resources to address homelessness among women, particularly focusing on shelters:
http://www.ibiblio.org/rcip/women.html

The Association of Gospel Rescue Missions has a good list of the dos…and don’ts…of helping the homeless.
http://www.agrm.org/how-help.html