Causes of Homelessness in the USA

1305 Words3 Pages

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. Homelessness is increasing more every year. In fact, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, over 640,000 people experience homelessness every night. (Hunger and Homelessness in North America) By definition, the homeless are groups of people that do not have a home. They can be people who are mentally ill, unemployed, veterans, or even children born into unfortunate families. Since they have nowhere to go, the homeless usually live inside abandoned buildings, in the streets, or in makeshift homes, such as a cardboard box or homemade tent. Although some work to find a decent home, many still suffer from depression or are psychically disabled and cannot work. (Overview of Homelessness in America) These people do not choose to be homeless, instead they become homeless due to a series of unfortunate events; namely losing their source of income or becoming homeless by birth. One instance of this occurred in the life of Hazel Washington. Hazel was fleeing an abusive relationship when she moved in with her relative and his girlfriend, but she was not told about their impending eviction. Because of this, her roommates took everything she owned an... ... middle of paper ... ...ss” City Now Requires Permits and Large Fees to Feed the Homeless. ThinkProgress RSS. Center for America Pogress Action Fund, 13 Feb. 2013. Web 26 Feb. 2014. http://thinkprogress.org/economy/20111/02/13/3288211/columbia-feeding-homeless-ban/. • Lefler, Dion. Count of Homeless Wichitans Reveals No ‘typical’ Homeless Story. Wichita Eagle. The Wichita Eagle, 20 Jan. 2014. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. http://www.kansas.com/2014/01/30/3258971/count-of-wichitans-without-homes-html. • Overview of Homelessness in America. Homelessness in America. National Student Campaign Against Hunger & Homelessness, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. http://www.studentsagainsthunger.org/page/hhp/overview-homelessness-america. • Ellis, Blake. Counting the Homeless in America’s Poorest City. CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/12/pf/homeless-count/.

Show More
Related

  • Missoula´s Homeless Population

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    The real question about homeless people on Missoula’s streets is this: do the homeless really want the help? Missoula has five housing options for homeless people to have their own place and transition into society. In addition to those five options, homeless have the option to stay at the Poverello center for a certain amount of time. The Poverello has 70 beds and will house 100 people every night. (Poverello Center Annual Report 2012, 2012) The city of Missoula has stated in their “10 year plan to end homelessness” that Missoula has 1242 homeless individuals and 603 homeless families. (Reaching Home: Missoula's 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, 2012) Of the 1242 homeless individuals and 603 families only 100 of them will receive shelter for a night. This leaves the 603 families on the streets as well as 1142 individuals on streets.

    Read More

  • A SOLUTION TO HOMELESSNESS IN CANADA

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wells, E. (2009). Counterpoint: Solving homelessness requires more than housing . EBSCOhost . Retrieved February 5, 2011, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=p3h&AN=28674968&lang=en-ca&site=pov-can

    Read More

  • Homelessness in America

    2035 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the first times the federal government stepped in to help deal with homelessness was during the Great Depression, and did just this when they instituted the Federal Transient Service, which funded work training programs, shelters, health centers, housing, and work camps from 1933 to 1936 (Street News Service, 2010). This program was shut down in 1936 when the Roosevelt administration decided to fund Social Security (Street News Service, 2010). Later, as the National Coalition for the Homeless reports, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is one of the only major federal legislation in response to homelessness, and it’s been amended four times since its original introduction (National Coalitio...

    Read More

  • Chronic Homelessness in the United States: An Unaddressed Crisis

    1682 Words  | 4 Pages

    Homelessness in the United States has been an important subject that the government needs to turn its attention to. There has been announced in the news that the number of the homeless people in many major cities in the United States has been increasing enormously. According to United States Interagency Council on Homelessness reported that there was an estimation of 83,170 individuals have experienced chronic homelessness on the streets of the United States’ streets and shelters on only a single night of January 2015, which is a small decrease of only 1% from the previous year (People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness, n.d.). The United States must consider this subject that most of the people underestimate it and not pay attention

    Read More

  • Homeless Families in America

    3762 Words  | 8 Pages

    Although most people know what homelessness is and it occurs in most societies, it is important to define because the forces of displacement vary greatly, along with the arrangement and meaning of the resulting transient state. The Stewart B McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 defined a homeless person as “an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence or a person who resides in a shelter, welfare hotel, transitional program or place not ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation, such as streets, cars, movie theaters, abandoned buildings, etc.” Resent surveys conducted in the U.S. have confirmed that the homeless population in America is extremely diverse and includes representatives from all segments of society, including: the old and young, men and women, single people and families, city dwellers and rural residents, whites and people of color, employed and unemployed, able workers and people with serious health problems. The diversity among people that are homeless reflects how difficult it is to generalize the causes of homelessness and the needs of homeless people. Robert Rosenheck M.D., the author of Special Populations of Homeless Americans, explains the importance of studying homelessness based on subgroups, “each subgroup [of homeless people] has unique service needs and identifying these needs is critical for program planning and design.” Despite these diversities, homelessness is a devastating situation for all that experience it. Not only have homeless people lost their dwelling, but they have also lost their safety, privacy, control, and domestic comfort.

    Read More

  • Homelessness in America

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    Romeo, Jim. "Homelessness in America Is a Growing Problem." Poverty and Homelessness. Ed. Noël Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "A Roof of One's Own: Homelessness Is Growing, but Solutions Are Out There." Planning 71.11 (Dec. 2005): 12-16. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

    Read More

  • Child Hunger in the USA

    1436 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Overview of Homelessness In America." Homelessness In America. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. .

    Read More

  • Solutions To Homelessness

    1837 Words  | 4 Pages

    This great nation of awesome power and abundant resources is losing the battle against homelessness. The casualties can be seen on the street corners of every city in American holding an ?I will work for food? sign. Homeless shelters and rescue missions are at full capacity. There is no room at the inn for the nation?s indigent. Anyone who has studied this issue understands that homelessness is a complex problem. Communities continue to struggle with this socio-economic problem while attempting to understand its causes and implement solutions. The public and private sectors of this country are making a difference in the lives of the homeless by addressing the issues of housing, poverty and education.

    Read More

  • Homelessness and Race in New York City's Sheltered homeless Popultion

    1396 Words  | 3 Pages

    New York has the 25th highest poverty rate in the United States. According to the Ameri...

    Read More

  • Memo

    1312 Words  | 3 Pages

    Homelessness is one of the biggest issues society (Unites States) faces today. Homelessness is caused by lack of affordable housing, economic situations and decline in federal funding for low income families and the mentally ill. A homeless person is defined as an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family) including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private (shelters) facility that provides temporary living accommodations and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing. This definition of housing is used by the U.S Department of Healt...

    Read More

  • The Trifecta: Homelessness, Mental Health, and Substance Use Disorders

    2511 Words  | 6 Pages

    Torrey, E. Fuller, M.D. (2011). Homeless Mentally Ill Fact, Figures, and Anecdotes. Retrieved from http://mentalillnesspolicy.org/consequences/homeless-mentally-ill.html

    Read More

  • The Primary Cause Of Homelessness In New York

    118 Words  | 1 Pages

    Consequently, a large number of homeless individuals in New Yorkers are either sleeping in municipal shelters. This number is 85 percent higher than it was ten years ago. The primary cause of homelessness amongst these individuals is the lack of affordable housing. Additionally, a significant number of New York City’s homeless population is a direct result of serious mental illness, addiction disorders and other health problems. Four out of five street homeless New Yorkers are men and close to 60% of the City’s unsheltered homeless population live on the streets of Manhattan. Homelessness primarily affects oppressed groups such as African American and Latinos. Fifty five percent of the City’s homeless population are African American and 31%

    Read More

  • The Three Causes Of Homelessness

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    So what is homelessness? Does anybody know the accurate meaning of homelessness anymore? Homelessness is defined as a person who “lacks a fixed, regular and adequate night-times residence” (“Facts”). “Homelessness is a temporary condition that people fall into when they cannot afford to pay for a place to live, or when their current home is unsafe or unstable” (“Homelessness defined”). Many determine that people choose or want to be homeless. There are infinite of reason why people become homeless (Bolster). There are three types of homelessness in which people do not know about such as chronic, transitional and episodic. Chronic homelessness are mainly old people and are considered “hard-core unemployed.” They are likely to be entrenched in shelter systems and are more like long term housing instead of an emergency arrangement (“Homelessness in”). Transitional homelessness are traditionally only for one stay or short time. They are typically younger. Episodic homeless people frequently go in and out of homelessness. They usually experience medical, mental health and substance abuse problems or are chronically unemployed (“Homelessness in”). Twenty three percent of homeless people are described as chronically homeless which is a homeless individual with a disabling condition who had been either continually homeless for a year or longer or have had at least four occasions of homelessness in the past three years (“Facts”). This

    Read More

  • Homelessness in Long Island, New York

    2323 Words  | 5 Pages

    Federal Definition of Homeless, February, 18, 2011 FFFFRID FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011 AY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011

    Read More

  • Causes Of Homelessness Essay

    842 Words  | 2 Pages

    Undoubtedly, the above scene has been witnessed by everyone at some point in his or her life, but sadly, most just pass by. Having a home is something that most people take for granted, yet each year hundreds of thousands of people have no place to call home. A warm bed, heating and air-conditioning, plenty of food, or even just a blanket, are a few of the items that individuals who are homeless would love to have. Homelessness knows no demographics; it affects single people, families, children, military veterans, young and old, and all

    Read More

More about Causes of Homelessness in the USA

Open Document