; Whereas the National Alliance to End Homelessness projects a 33-percent increase over the next decade in elderly people who are homeless, increasing the number of homeless persons over the age of 62 from the current estimate of 44,172 to 58,772; Whereas according to the National Coalition for the Homeless, older adults living in poverty are a forgotten population, who are now forced to grow old in the streets and in shelters due to the dramatic increase in poverty and decrease in the availability of affordable housing over the last several years; Whereas there are tens of thousands of homeless Americans who are severely mentally and physically challenged and are forced to live in cars, in the streets, temporarily in other people’s homes, in expensive hotels, on downtown benches or grates, or in homeless shelters because of long-term unemployment, insufficient Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits needed to cover the costs of increasing private sector rents, or frequent denials of SSDI claims due to stringent eligibility requirements; Whereas due to the current affordable housing crisis, mental health centers across the Nation are forced to release patients with limited or no access to affordable housing, creating a costly and needless revolving door cycle of repeated hospitalizations, arrests, incarceration, and the flooding of already overcrowded emergency rooms; Whereas thousands of caring families across the Nation often lack the requisite training, or the resources needed, to provide loving care for homeless mentally ill family members, and providing housing for an untreated and unsupervised homeless mentally ill family member or friend can result in undue financial pressures, debt, and extremely dangerous life-threatening situations