Frail elderly homeless persons face alcoholism, chronic mental illness, dementia, urinary incontinence, cancer, and, ultimately, dying without a home, friends, or family. Prevalence A small percentage of the homeless are elderly men over age 65. In most studies they comprise about 3 percent of the homeless population. This percentage indicates the presence of approximately 200 homeless persons aged 65 or older in the San Diego region. This estimate includes only those who are consistently homeless.
Additional seniors are homeless sporadically, or have been homeless at least once.
Fifteen percent of the clients at the Senior Community Centers of San Diego, which serve low-income seniors, have been homeless at some point in their lives. As a group, older low-income persons possess the characteristics that often generate homelessness. Half have suffered from chronic alcoholism, severe mental illness, or both. They are in poor health. Reasons for the Small Proportion of Elderly Homeless Persons Persons aged 65 and older compromise about 12 percent of the general population in the United States.