For women in their 50s experiencing homelessness, daily life means far more than finding a place to sleep. It means navigating dangerous shelter environments, managing serious health conditions without adequate support, and fighting to maintain dignity in a system that was never designed for them. A new study by Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW) Professor Judith Gonyea puts their experiences at the center.
Published in Frontiers in Global Women's Health, the study was co-authored by Professor Gonyea and Kelly Melekis of the University of Vermont. Their research examines how older women experiencing homelessness navigate life on the streets and in emergency housing shelters, and how those environments affect their physical and emotional well-being, their sense of self-worth, and their path toward stable housing.
A Population Falling Through the Cracks
Women in their 50s experiencing homelessness occupy a particularly precarious position. Too young to qualify for federal old-age benefits and typically without minor-age children, they often fall between the targeted populations that safety net programs are designed to serve. At the same time, due to poor nutrition and harsh living conditions, many experience accelerated aging, presenting with chronic health conditions more commonly seen in housed women in their 70s and 80s.
Although one of the fastest-growing groups within the homeless population globally, older women experiencing homelessness have remained largely absent from research and policy conversations. This BUSSW study seeks to change that.
What the Research Found
Professor Gonyea and Melekis conducted in-depth interviews with 15 women in their 50s experiencing homelessness in an urban northeastern U.S. city. The majority identified as women of color. Trauma was nearly universal among participants, and most were managing significant physical and mental health challenges.
Five key themes emerged from the interviews, each reflecting how shelter environments intensify the daily struggles these women face. Participants described shelters as dehumanizing places where they were reduced to a bed number rather than recognized as individuals.
They reported feeling unsafe, often describing shelter life as akin to prison, requiring constant hypervigilance to protect themselves from bullying, theft and potential violence. Many found the harsh physical conditions of shelters, including bunk beds ill-suited to older bodies, limited privacy and inadequate resources, to be in direct conflict with their health needs. Rigid rules and protocols left women feeling stripped of control and autonomy. And the absence of stability and normalcy, from unpredictable daily schedules to compulsory daytime displacement onto the streets, wore heavily on their sense of self and hope for the future.
Despite these challenges, the women demonstrated remarkable resilience and resourcefulness, finding creative ways to maintain their appearance, preserve their belongings, and hold onto a sense of identity beyond homelessness.
Why This Matters
The findings point to an urgent need to transform both the physical and social environments of emergency housing shelters using trauma-informed and aging-responsive approaches. The authors call for shelters to move away from authoritarian, one-size-fits-all practices and toward models that recognize the distinct needs of older women, including those related to health, trauma, safety and dignity.
As the number of older adults experiencing homelessness continues to grow, Gonyea and Melekis state that older women must no longer be invisible in research, policy or practice. Their voices and their experiences must be part of the solution.
