Older Homeless Women: Beneath the Safety Net

The older homeless have been termed "America's untouchables". Women are largely invisible, with the exception of the rare "shopping bag lady" sheltering in the doorway of an office building. In spite of being an inaccurate generalization, this prominent conceptualization endures. In reality, a growing number of older women from a variety of backgrounds, identified as a category of the "new" homeless", are vulnerable. A descriptive study was undertaken to develop a profile of older homeless women in order more accurately to determine their service needs. The construct "older homeless women" was defined as women 50 and older who require emergency or temporary shelter. Existing case records (N=223) were examined for the period 1996-1999 for adult protective services (APS) and selected homeless agencies in Richmond, Virginia Beach, Charlottesville, and counties surrounding Richmond