Helping Homelessness

When it comes to helping the homeless, some might think that that is the easiest thing to do. Just giving them food and shelter should do wonders. But it’s not always the solution. The shelter you might provide for a couple of nights won’t last them long. They won’t be able to get back onto their feet and keep a stable job. Give them more everyday supplies than money. Treat them like a human being.

When it comes to seeing homeless people on the streets, just walking by them and not paying any mind to them is the first thought that runs through our heads. Sometimes, we think giving them food and supplies is making a big difference. But that is only a small difference. When asking the homeless what we can do to help, they give us answers. But they way we want to help costs to much, we don’t have enough space, or we just aren’t giving them what they actually want. All of the shelters that we have available are helpful, yes. But they can be costly. According to Semuels (2016), “Just to serve a family in an emergency shelter can cost about $4,819 a month,” (para. 6). If it was easy to add more houses that the homeless could afford, then we would do it. But with the amount of houses and apartments we have today,

And when it comes to bigger cities, you would expect a bigger population. The New York Times has pointed out that “With a large homeless population, we have seen the growth of three-quarters houses, which cram multiple people into one bedroom while purporting to help them,” (para. 20). Sometimes shelters make the homeless pay before they get they help they need. Even then they don’t come out of them refreshed and clean. They might come out worse. Jeffrey Nemetsky, who runs Brooklyn Community Housing and Services, says, “having a social worker knock on the door once a day to say hello can mean the difference between a tenant staying or heading back out onto the streets,” (para.