It was an opportunity for people to learn more about the complex issues that lead to homelessness on Guam and what is available to help those in need. The 3rd Annual Housing and Homelessness Summit was recently held at the University of Guam Lecture Hall.

Guam Homeless Coalition chairperson Aja Ramos says she went on a data quest in hopes to answer the question many in the community ask - how many people are homeless on the island? On Friday, during the summit, Ramos and co-chairperson Rob San Agustin presented critical information that was pulled from the Homeless Management Information System.

"This data is looking at one day. On November 20 I woke up one day and I was like Frank, could you send me a report because today, I want to see how many people are homeless?" Ramos detailed.

Providing data part of their 2024 year-in-review, Ramos says that they don't know the exact number but given the system and resources they have, on November 20 there wete 1,054 people who are homeless on Guam.

"Breaking that down, we looked at household types. And what the data show is 59.9% of those households are single adult individuals. 27.7% are households with children. And 12.4% are households without children," she continued.

One area of homelessness that is critical is looking at vulnerable populations - specifically domestic violence. Victims who are fleeing from abusive situations. Who is homeless on Guam? When breaking down the demographics, they wanted to see who was most affected by homelessness and  if there were any disparity and equity issues and if programs are targeting the right people.

"At the top are males," she confirmed. And the stat that was staggering for Ramos was for children, as she said, "40% of homelesss population...are under the age of 17."

The numbers bring forth a lot of questions, as she added, "When we think about family shelters, are there enough? How are we keeping families together? Where are these children living? Are they in shleters? Are they on the streets? Where are they and how are we helping them."

Pretty significant are the 25-55 years old group at 40.4% and at 18.6% were individuals 55 and above, our man'amko. The numbers helping ghc create programs and provide resources necessary to address those struggling with homelessness.

If you would like more information, you can visit guamhomelesscoalition.org or follow on Instagram, @guamhomelesscoalition.