Remy Gordon is the Founder of Seeking Shelter. At a young age, Remy began volunteering at a local Soup Kitchen in an underserved neighborhood. After completing undergrad, Remy became an elementary school teacher. After a few years, she decided to take a break from teaching and began working as a Program Coordinator at a trauma informed homeless shelter for women and children. While at the shelter, she grew very fond of the guests and grew to love working with this population. Remy returned to school to pursue her Masters in Social Work. She completed her Foundation Practicum at a homeless shelter for the youth. 

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Over the past few years, Remy has been doing extensive research into the homeless population. It has become a passion of hers. One night while grocery shopping, a young woman with her one-year old daughter approached Remy asking for money. This woman explained that she had nowhere to go and didn't want to sleep on the streets with her young daughter. Remy spent two hours that night calling all around St. Louis to find a shelter that would take this woman and her daughter. It was from this experience that Seeking Shelter originated. Had there been an easier method for this woman to find out what shelters are nearby and which were available, she could've found one on her own. 

 

It is clear that homelessness is a tremendous issue that unfortunately affects way too many on a daily basis. There are various housing options for those that are affected by homeless; these include emergency shelters, transitional housing, rapid re-housing, and permanent support housing. When 50 percent of poor household's income goes towards paying rent, that household is experiencing 'severe housing cost burden'. When families living this way suffer from an unfortunate event such as loss of employment or unexpected medical cost, they often result in homelessness. 

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In the 2021 Annual Homeless Assessment Report created by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the report found that more than 326,000 people experienced sheltered homelessness in the United States on a single night in 2021, a decrease of eight percent, from 2020. Of that 326,000; six in ten were individuals—that is, people in households with only adults or in households with only children. Four in ten were people in families with children. The share of emergency shelter beds for people experiencing sheltered homelessness located in non-congregate settings increased by 134 percent between 2020 and 2021. 

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Between 2020 and 2021, the number of veterans experiencing sheltered homelessness decreased by 10 percent. This represents the largest one-year decline since 2015-2016. The number of sheltered individuals with chronic patterns of homelessness increased by 20 percent between 2020 and 2021.