At President Obama's press conference on March 24th, in response to a question regarding a new report finding that 1 in 50 U.S. children go homeless each year, the President said

"I'm heartbroken that any child in America is homeless....Part of the change in attitudes that I want to see here in Washington and all across the country is a belief that it is not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours.  And so we're going to be initiating a range of programs...to deal with homelessness."

This may be the first time in U.S. history that a sitting president has acknowledged the fact that many of our nation's homeless are in fact children.  President Obama's declaration that "it is not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours" is a call to action.  While, as the President noted, we must help homeless families lift themselves out of poverty with jobs, this in itself will not be enough.