Homelessness has always been a present problem in the United States. It is caused by many factors that some of us are not aware of. The situations of these people hurt their families and local communities alike. Two sources were examined for their content on these issues. This essay describes the hardships of homelessness and what can be done to help these people.
Helping the Homeless Many people have gotten to experience what life is like in big cities or small rural communities. Often times, these places have a population of wealthier people and an area of poorer families. What many do not experience is what it is like to be homeless in these places. Homeless men, women and children can be seen under bridges, on front stoops, in cars, and several other locations of “shelter”. This problem is more common and local than a lot of us believe. Whether we know it or not, we have people that are struggling with homelessness in our own communities today. This epidemic is more real than we may ever know. It is very sad to imagine these people living in these conditions but things can be done to help. Homelessness is a reality in local communities and can be improved through schools, educational programs, charity, and helping them overcome barriers or stressors. There are numerous common misconceptions about the homeless and how they are being helped. People usually picture a homeless person as lazy (known as a “bum”) or unfit for society. It
Homelessness is an issue in American society today that affects anywhere from 800,000 to 3.5 million people. There are a substantial amount of people that are without shelter, food, or employment, and there are numerous other people affected by poverty and homelessness. People living in nearly every city in the United States are affected by homelessness due to the large amounts of homeless individuals living on the streets and begging for money, food, and other necessities. The issue of homelessness has been a constant problem since the conquering of the New World, and soup kitchens and homeless shelters have not been able to fully end homelessness. Especially today, with a lack of affordable housing and high unemployment rates, homelessness is prevalent.
“One diverse population that has continued to increase over the quarter of a century is composed of people who are homeless” (Baggerly & Zalaquett, 2006, p.155). Homelessness has become a growing problem in society because more and more people are finding themselves to be homeless and not knowing where to turn. Many people do not
In the United States the homeless population continues to grow rapidly. Homelessness has been a public health issue for many decades. Often times these individuals feel as though society has turned a blind eye to them. This at risk population is seen by society as lazy or chose to live a life on the streets, but if one would examine this population closely would see that there is more to this at risk population than what society has labeled them as. The forces, which affect homelessness, are multifaceted. Social forces such as family breakdown, addictions, and mental illnesses are in combined with structural forces such as lack of low-cost housing, insufficient health services, and poor economic conditions. Many would
A place of safety and security is something that many of us take for granted, until we are confronted in our own neighborhood by someone holding up a sign pleading for help. Homelessness is a problem that has been afflicting hundreds of thousands of people around the world for ages. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, on a single night in 2016, 549,928 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States. That means that there were at least 500,000 individuals suffering without a place to lay their heads at night. In this report I will be discussing the causes of homelessness, who is affected, how it affects people, and homeless mistreatment.
Homelessness in America has existed for some time now, but has grown and changed majorly over the years since the 1980’s. According to Mary Hombs, “the prevailing stereotype of a homeless person was that of a middle-aged white urban male alcoholic” (6). But now there is no stereotype because homelessness could happen to anyone at any moment, so that is why it important to be aware. Millions of people in this country do not have a place to live including whole families, children, veterans, and even the mentally ill. Going day after day without food or shelter. Throughout this paper the main focus will be answering the questions: What is homelessness?; What are the main causes of homelessness?: Who is the homeless?; and How do the people of this country assist the homeless?
Homelessness in the United States can be ended, not just maintained. Allot of cities now have plans to eradicate homelessness. Homelessness and housing instability are large issues that afflict a diverse demographic such as: Families, youth, veterans, and chronically homeless single male adults. Ending homelessness may require specialized solutions that are specific to individual needs. Factors like these make defeating homelessness a difficult task. Although solutions exist for some of the demographics, such as housing for chronically homeless adults, scaling up best practices remains a challenge. For other subpopulations, such as transitional aged youth, evidence-based interventions need to be developed. In this paper we argue that ending homelessness is a Grand Challenge that is big, important, and compelling—one that the profession of social work should be adopt. Meeting this challenge will require a focused, organized response from social work researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Ending homelessness will require innovation and interdisciplinary or cross-sector collaboration. Key words: Housing First, Permanent Supportive Housing, rapid re-housing, prevention, poverty. The notion that homelessness in the United States can be ended, rather than managed (Mangano, 2002; National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2012), represents a fundamental shift in expectations from the 1980s and ’90s. Since the early 2000s, researchers, policymakers, advocates,
Seeing homelessness develop is a process that the older generation can say they have been apart of. The young generation, on the other hand, cannot say they have seen the development of homelessness. People who are thirty years old or younger have grown up believing that homelessness was always part of the landscape. The younger generation has come to believe that there have always been homeless people sitting on park benches. When an individual is asked what they see most in a large city like Chicago or New York, ‘homeless people’ is a common response. According to the United States Census Bureau, 320.8 million individuals currently live in the United States of America. Imagine the proportion of individuals that do not own a car or even a house to live in. The National Law Center on Homelessness and poverty did studied to conclude that in America more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year. Those concerned with the issue of homelessness are curious as to what events had to have happened that lead to the individuals living on the streets. The reasons are different for each and every person. Some of the more major issues that contribute to this are lack of affordable housing, declining welfare assistance, and most importantly, mental illness. Resolving the issue of homelessness is very possible with new ways of housing and treatment for the mentally ill. The relation between the homeless and the mental illness has risen, and the United States as a whole
Homelessness became a huge problem in everywhere especially in the USA. Most people heard homeless people, and they saw homeless people in the streets, markets, or bridges. Most people never try to understand why there is much homelessness. Most people do not know any facts about them seem the truth of homelessness, the state of homelessness in the United States, and the effect on people from homelessness.
The issue of chronic homelessness is not just a political or academic debate but has become evident from men and women living without homes in the streets of America. Homeless men and women
All over America, there are people wandering the streets without a home. These individuals are seen as a crowd, a separate collective existence. They are called the homeless, as if that defines who they are, but we too often neglect to add the unspoken word in that title; people. It seems today that the more fortunate citizens of America who have a roof over their heads have forgotten their innate responsibility to watch over those in this world whom are incapable of caring for them-selves. The fact is, that there are millions of homeless in America today. Many of these people had no choice but to become homeless. Economic problems such as being laid off work, or the rise in the cost of housing had lead people to
People drive or walk past a homeless person almost every day without thinking twice about the plight of that person or they may even unconsciously turn their heads the other way in disgust. Homelessness simply put, means without a home - therefore homelessness is an equal opportunity state that can happen to anyone. Even though we have seen some economic prosperity over the years, statistics show that the number of homeless remains very high. With this in mind, communities need to come together at the state, city, and individual level to come up with solutions to mitigate the spreading of this problem.
Probably everyone including myself has our own perceptions about homeless mainly we think about homeless that they are criminals, have infectious diseases and we will get infected if we get in touch them, all of them are mentally ill and so on. we all make judgments about people just by their appearance. And we are trying to avoid them. After watching series called “on the streets” documentary about homeless population living on the streets of LA. I realized how wrong I was and rushed to shape an unsupported opinion about homelessness without looking deep into their stories. They become homeless as a result of various causes beyond their control. Some people have lost their jobs and cannot afford to pay for housing or they just don’t earn
Homelessness has become a serious problem in today’s society. Despite the organizations that help multitudes of homeless people, homelessness is continually increasing. In recent years, America’s culture has been changing due to economic, political, and social issues. These issues have caused a lot of stress on America resulting in abject poverty in several cities. Poverty is not nationwide, but if dealt with lightly, the affects can be catastrophic. Homelessness is increasing more than ever, and research proves that changing culture contributes to rising amount of homelessness.
As many as 3.5 million Americans are considered homeless each year. Often, people believe that homelessness is a complication only caused by the poor choices of a single person when they are typically the result of multiple uncontrollable factors. For some, the line between being homeless and not can be very thin, with several obstacles preventing stability. These individuals and families commonly come from more deprived areas. Those who are homeless can be very different to each other in how and why they came to be in their situation, but they all have in common their desire to find a way back to a normal and healthy lifestyle. Homelessness is an issue created by poor physical and mental health, a lack of money, and relationship complications.
Many reasons for worsening situation of homelessness in the country have been reported but none has gathered as much support as poverty. Poverty alone accounts for major increase in homeless households while other possible reasons include loss of job, eroding job opportunities, lack of public assistance and lack of affordable housing facilities. Despite these being powerful reasons, they are all linked to one major reason i.e. poverty.