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Homelessness, causes,prevention and impact on children article
Homelessness and children
Homelessness and children
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Homeless Homeless, defined by Webster’s Dictionary as having no home or permanent place of residence so therefore typically living on the streets, is a very prevalent situation. According to National Housing Authority 4.2 million people in the United States are homeless each year. 2.3 million of those people are children under the age of eighteen. My parents’ drug addiction, unsafe living conditions, and arrest led to my homeless situation. Many extreme, unhealthy, lonely, occurrences can happen once in a homeless position. At age sixteen my parents were arrested by the police for drugs. The drugs provided unsafe living conditions therefore; leaving me homeless. Such a calamity to me, I bounced from couch to couch at friends for as long as I could while being adamant about not “over-staying my welcome” or letting them feel sorry for me. My car then became my primary source of shelter for a long couple months. Tangible, beat up, …show more content…
I abstained from squandering money on silly, unnecessary items. I picked up every extra shift obtainable to earn extra money. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought two plates, two spoons, two knives, two forks, two bowls, napkins, toilet paper, dish soap, and one basket to hold my laundry. My motto was “the minimum necessary just to get by.” My first big purchase was a used full size bed with sheets and comforter. I had never felt more excited. About three months later I had enough money to buy my first couch. A used, dirty-brown in color, three seated sofa. The couch fit perfectly in my tiny living room. When I finally turned eighteen I picked up even more shifts and had a decent amount of money saved up. I applied for a position in Quincy at Blue Cross Blue Shield, and then shortly after was offered the position. Moving to Quincy and working at Blue Cross was benevolent to my living
The homeless population is growing in America. There are more and more Americans living in boxes, sleeping on park benches and panhandling on the streets each day. These people tend to make us, the non-homeless, feel uncomfortable and unsafe. They are also placing increasing stress on the nation's economy. In short, the homeless are a burden on the rest of society. There needs to be action taken against them. "I shall now humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection (Swift.)" I propose that all of the homeless be relocated to foreign third world countries. They can then be hired in American factories producing shoes, automobiles and other various goods at less than one dollar per hour.
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
Homelessness has different meanings to different people; someone who has never been homeless might think homelessness is a person who lives on the street, in a tent or in a box. Many people don’t realize that there are a number of homeless people, who couch surf with friends, family or the ones who live in motels which are unaccountable in the numbers of homeless people. People including families with children, seniors, single parents, youths and those that are single are living in accommodations that are below standards and consider themselves as homeless.
Over half a million people are homeless in the United States. A quarter of these homeless people are under the age of eighteen, or also known as children. 50 percent of the homeless that are over eighteen years, are fifty and older with health and injury prone problems. One in five homeless people suffers from untreated severe mental illness, and half of these people self medicate themselves. Eight percent of the homeless population are veterans, and forty-five percent of that number is blacks or Hispanics. Most people think that being homeless means begging for money on the streets with a sign, or sleeping on the sidewalk with your dog or cat and maybe even a bag to store some things in; but what does “being homeless” actually mean? Homelessness in the United States and is a bigger problem than most people think.
Numerous of people believe only certain races are homeless, but it is certainly not true. Compared to seventy six of the general population, thirty nine percent of Non-Hispanic white individuals are homeless. Compared to eleven percent of the general population, forty two percent of African-Americans are homeless. Compared to nine percent of the general population, thirteen percent of Hispanics are homeless. Compared to one percent of the general population, four percent of the homeless are Native-American. Two percent of homeless were Asians (“facts”). Family rejection of sexual orientation and identity was the most frequently cited factor of the LGBT homelessness. Fifty percent of young people that are homeless say parents notified them to leave or knew they were leaving and did not care (“Eleven facts about homeless”). The Williams Institute, said “forty percent of the homeless youth served by agencies identifies as LGBT. Forty
Homelessness poses a danger not only to ourselves but also to our society and its ability to succeed. Image yourself living as a homeless person you would have to consider your whole day, where you would wake up to in the morning, which will likely shape up your whole day and determine if you can make it through or not.
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...
This source is an ethnographic study to explore the culture of homelessness in youth. Data for the study were obtained from nineteen homeless adolescents from the northeastern part of the US. Oliveira and Burke (2009) identified some of the cultural features of homeless youth including material possessions such as musical instruments and equipment, relationships with other homeless individuals to create a street family, selling drugs and panhandling as well as a street language. They found that the decision to make the streets their home was a rational option to staying unsafe and harmful home environments.
There are countless laws today that subliminally discriminate against homeless people. One such law was passed in 2014 that made it illegal to sleep in public areas of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Philosopher Jeremy Waldron and author of the essay “Homelessness and the Issue of Freedom” would view this law as extremely unconstitutional and immoral. Waldron would argue that making it illegal to sleep somewhere takes away the homeless persons freedom to live. I agree with Waldron on the claim that outlawing sleeping in public spaces is unconstitutional because by doing so one is taking away the homeless persons only home. For those who do not have a place to sleep the streets are their only homes. The law banning sleeping in public spaces therefore discretely makes it illegal for homeless people to even exist.
Homelessness is a subject that has inspired many to write poems, speeches, and even songs. However, there is more depth to homelessness than just a source for inspiration; this is an ongoing problem for many all over the world. The 40th president to the United States, Ronald Reagan, once said that "what we have found in this country, and maybe we're more aware of it now, is one problem that we've had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless, you might say, by choice."(Reagan). The president's expression is very powerful even today, implying that even in the best of times homelessness is one of the top issues in society. Notice how President Regan cleverly used the wording "by choice" at the end of the sentence, what did he mean to convey by this? Was he implying that those who are homeless are so by choice? Or that many individuals perceived homelessness to be a choice? Perhaps it was a way to raise awareness of the impending problems that can lead an individual to homelessness. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the National Coalition for the Homeless, there are three triggering factors that lead to homelessness, lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and health care ("Why Are People Homeless?"). Therefore, when exploring into more depth the determining reasons, considering the key roles that a home, money, and employment play in an individual’s life will facilitate a better understanding of the downward spiral towards homelessness.
Homelessness….. Many assume those who are homeless took part in some type of drug or alcohol abuse which lead them to become homeless. It is an ongoing situation that has not been fully resolved in order to lower the risk of individuals of the youth population becoming homeless. The age group for homeless individuals who qualify as youth is nineteen years of age and under. In the United States, dysfunctional families are occurring more frequent, which is a vital reason adolescents are running away from their homes. This alone puts many of our youth at risk of becoming homeless. When adolescents leave their homes, it decreases their chances of having a smooth transition into adulthood. Some adolescents may leave their home because
Homelessness can be described as a person who lacks a fixed, adequate nighttime residence. To be considered homeless a person must have a primary nighttime residency that is a publicly operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations. It is impossible to know exactly how many people are homeless in the United States. The numbers fluctuate everyday because some find homes, some lose their homes, and most of the time the homeless are in places that aren't counted. The only thing that is known is that homelessness is increasing. A growing shortage of affordable housing has made climbing out of homelessness nearly impossible for someone who lives in extreme poverty ("Homeless").
Minors in states of homelessness often begin to lack education due to the lack of transportation to and from school and insufficiency of appropriate records; the lack of education makes the potential of becoming financially stable in the future slim. Many homeless youth become resistant to change, either by choice or by circumstance, and remain in challenging circumstances throughout their adult life. Many homeless youth become stuck on the track of homelessness without the help of organizations who aim to help these specific
Everyone deserves a place to stay and feel safe because a home is essential factor to our existence. However, not every person gets to have a home. In American today more 60 percent of people depend on government assistants per the 2013 index of dependency of the government report. Per our presentation in class over 600,000 people on a given night are left without a home and a quarter of that are people under 18. 15% of the homeless population, are considered “chronically homeless.” Chronic homelessness is defined as an individual who has a disability and has experienced homelessness for a year or longer, or an individual who has a disability and has experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years (must be a cumulative
“His name is Otis. Hold him with one hand on his back or it could break.”