NEW ORLEANS – More senior citizens are living on the streets. 

Homeless agencies across the country say it's an alarming new trend because of rising rents and inflation. 

"It's hard because you don't know where your next meal is coming from, where your next shower is coming from," said Darrell Gibson, 55. 

Gibson has been on the streets in New Orleans for over three weeks. He has liver disease and recently lost his mother. 

"This is my first time I've been on the streets and without no family," Gibson said. "My mother was the last family member I had." 

Gibson is now one of tens of thousands of American seniors without a permanent home, and researchers predict the crisis will get worse. 

A 2019 study led by the University of Pennsylvania estimated the number of elderly people experiencing homelessness will nearly triple by 2030, reaching over 100,000. And this study was done before the COVID-19 pandemic.