A record number of seniors are burdened by high housing costs. A new report from University's Joint Center for Housing Studies sounds the alarm as the US population ages rapidly. The number of seniors who will qualify for federal housing subsidies will continue to grow. The report also notes that more people over the age of 50 are losing housing for the first time. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "Increasingly, the story of homelessness among adults is going to be older adults living in poverty, who are spending what should be their retirement years in the streets."

In the state of California, the three major utility companies, have nearly doubled electricity rates over the last decade. With growing increase in energy demands, the rising utility costs are pushing families already at the margins to the brink of homelessness. Many people are forced to making an impossible choice. Margot Kushel, MD, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said, "I think recognizing energy insecurity as a contributor to this crisis, this is the next frontier that we need to really worry about."

Following is a statement by Dr. Margot Kushel, MD, Director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI) at the University of California, San Francisco on the 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, released today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.