Homelessness is a person or a family that don’t have a place to use as a house or shelter. US government provides emergency/winter shelters for homeless people living in the United States. Winter shelters are really useful for homeless people, but there is one problem about this service. States have the control of opening and closing these shelters. Before the beginning of winter, every state chooses a temperature to open winter shelters, and they open shelters when the weather is lower than the chosen temperature. For example New York City decided to open its winter shelters when the weather is colder than 32 F previous winter. Every state has a different temperature to open its shelters. Lethal hypothermia can be caused when the temperature is 50F and lower, however most of the cities wait until it is much colder. Opening emergency winter shelters under 50 F, doesn’t make sense because it causes pain for some unlucky and innocent people on the streets, is harmful for homeless people’s health and is being stingy by saying human life is less important than money.
Homeless people suffer, as cities wait for a chosen temperature to open winter shelters. The lowest chosen temperature appears in Baltimore, which is 13F. 13F is really too cold. Basically saying homeless people to sleep outside when it is 15F outside is definitely not fair for that people. Nobody deserves such pain. There are some causes that people cannot prevent. For example a huge number of homeless people in the USA are veterans. Yes, that is true. Those are the people, who risked their life for their country, got wounded and are not able to work anymore. US should look after them by giving house and money, but government doesn’t even open its shelters for those unk...
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...icole. “Life And Death For Homeless This Winter”. Socialistworker.org. 8 January 2014. Web. 23 May 2014
Henry, Meghan; Cortes, Dr. Alvaro; Morris, Sean. "The 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress". 2013. Web. 9 April 2014
Thomas, Emily. "Winter Storm Hercules: Homeless People In NYC, Northeast Face Grueling Weather". 2014. Web and Published. 9 April 2014
Kurtzleben, Danielle. "U.S. Homelessness Is on the Decline … Maybe". 22 November 2013. Web and Published. 9 April 2014
The National Coalition for the Homeless. "Homelessness in America". No publishing date. Web. 9 April 2014
"Homelessness in The United States. , The Free Encyclopedia". Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 8 April 2014. Web. 9 April 2014
Mitchell, Bill. "Risks Of Living On Street In Bitter Cold: When Not To Walk On By". 31 January 2014. Web and Published. 9 April 2014
Kathleen’s book brings up many detailed facts about how homelessness is a never ending situation due to mental illness, poverty, social structure and political parties. She discusses how much of society groups Illegal immigrants, mentally ill, jobless and many other categories under the homeless category.
In the United States, homelessness has remained a constant presence in all major cities. For example, in New York City, it is comprised of alcoholics, drug addicts, and other people (“American History”). It has largely moved into hidden places such as unused subway tunnels or under bridges. Whether or not we experience it ourselves, homelessness impacts all of us. Homelessness describes all normal life crisis. There is a difference between people who experience these challenges and become homeless and people who face them and do not use the support systems that they have in place.
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...
...erging Adult Homeless in Two U.S. Cities. National Association of Social Workers, 58(2), 173-175. doi: 10.1093/sw/swt006
... are seen and treated in our society. The biggest part of the problem is the way people act about and to homeless people. It's ridiculous to treat anyone different because of their social status; it's pretty much racism. Simple things people can do is just treat people equally, no matter who they are, and not just basing it on how they look.Homelessness is one of the fastest growing epidemics in the United States right now. There are over 3.5 million homeless people in the US now. Also, a quarter of people living on the streets are severely mentally ill, and must be admitted to institutions, and have the capability to if they were given or knew they had a chance. The poverty level is constantly rising, and is forcing more and more people onto the streets. We can just sit around and hope someone else does it, or we can take action. Next time you walk by homeless man or family, and before you make a judgement about them, just take a minute and think about how easily it could be you.
Cobb, Jodi, and Philip Brookman. The Way Home: Ending Homelessness in America. Washington, D.C: Abrams in Association with the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1999. Print.
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
McNamara, Robert Hartmann. "Homelessness." Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Social Issues. Ed. Michael Shally-Jensen. Vol. 3: Family and Society. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. 1024-1031. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 2 May 2014. .
In fiscal year 2006, the HUD, Department of Housing and Urban Development, was presented a budget by the Bush Administration consisting of $528.5 billion for homeless programs (Romeo 1). The problem of homelessness and extreme poverty is not a new occurrence; but in past years more extreme measures have been taken to combat the issue as more people become homeless. Expensive social programs and housing developments for the homeless have been created to help battle the increasing issue. Homelessness is an expensive problem that will never end; furthermore, the condition of homeless people in America is affected by the type of education they receive, the state of the economy, and the amount of funds that are available to house and feed them.
"Overview of Homelessness In America." Homelessness In America. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. .
Homelessness can happen to anyone unexpectedly. Many poor people are at the risk of homelessness. The cost of living and trying to find affordable housing can be very difficult. Many who are homeless are in poverty, have a mental illness, or addictions. Homelessness happens from personal, as well as structural factors. Many aren’t able to make enough for rent, as well as, utilities, food, and other expenses each month. More than 6 million Americans pay more than half of their income towards rent (Reamer, 1989). The trend is once someone becomes homeless, it is likely they will be homeless repeatedly. To end homelessness, affordable housing will have to be created because it is peoples largest single expenditure (Anderson, 2013).
There are too many connecting issues that have caused homelessness to escalate from a lifestyle that was really only lived by middle aged individuals with a substance abuse problem, to a condition that is endured everyday by a diverse number of people. The 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress reveals that 36 percent of the homeless population consisted of individuals in families--over half of which were children--17.8 percent was made up by the chronically homeless, and an estimated 10 percent was comprised of veterans.
“Homeless is more than being without a home. It is tied into education needs, food, security; health issues both mental and physical, employment issues, etc. Don’t forget the whole picture.” (“Boxed In” 2005 pg. 108)
Homelessness is a social issue that has been overlooked for too long. It can be observed in many states worldwide. The rising population of homeless people affects those characterized as homeless, their families subjected to the lifestyle, and the communities where homelessness exists. There are many solutions but only a few will be discussed. Improving existing shelters and building new shelters are general solutions. More in depth solutions within the shelters include programs that assist the homeless with opportunities for re-entry into the community. I would first like to discuss reasons why this issue should be looked into and conclude with recommendations.
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.