HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The pandemic has impacted some people in more ways than others, and that includes the homeless population in the Rio Grande Valley.
According to World Population Review, there are over half a million people experiencing homelessness and 25,848 of those are in Texas.
Factors contributing to homelessness are low wages, poverty, lack of affordable housing, and unemployment.
The current minimum wage in Texas is $7.25/hour which hasn’t been raised since 2009.
The National Employment Law Project (NELP) found that 25 states and 56 cities will raise their minimum wages by the end of 2022. In many areas, the floor will meet or exceed $15/hour.
Living Wage also revealed that if you live in the McAllen-Mission-Edinburg area, you’ll need to make a living wage of at least $12.63 to live comfortably. That figure is for individuals that don’t have children.
If you have one child, your living wage would be $25.65/hour.
Donald Crouse, the Director for Loaves and Fishes’ Open Arms Homeless Shelter told ValleyCentral another major component in homelessness is mental health.
“It creates problems with their families, their personal relationships, and all of a sudden you have instances of family violence or children are forced to leave home where they were formally living with their parents,” added Crouse.
He said the RGV isn’t experiencing as serious of a homeless problem as Houston and Dallas, but the Valley is heading in that direction.
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