Ashley Guillen
Professor S. Schulze
English 1301- Essay 4
November 29, 2015
Cities and homeless When thinking of big cities, what comes to mind? Most people probably imagine huge skyscrapers, beautiful skylines, lots of pedestrians, and cars trying to get from one place to another. However, campsites along some highways and certain areas in the city set up by homeless are commonly left out of this description. They aren't the best sight to see and may decrease tourism as well as big businesses from going to certain cities. To put an end to this, Justice Departments in some cities have issued bans on sleeping and camping in public places. Nevertheless, homeless individuals should not be criminalized for camping and sleeping in public. Most
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According to the Los Angeles Times, “In Los Angeles, there are enough shelter beds for less than one-third of homeless people, the lowest percentage of any large city in the country” (Blasi and Mangano 2015). Los Angeles is one of the many cities that don't have adequate room in shelters to accommodate those that need a place to stay. Some shelters may be located in different parts of the city and be too far away from the campsites where homeless citizens usually stay, if they have no possible way of making it to the shelters is it fair that they be …show more content…
In the Homeless Court Advantage, an article written by Violet Law she states,”Many criminal charges against the homeless stem from their homelessness: loitering, sleeping on the sidewalks, drinking or urinating in public. Once cited, they don't have a mailing address to receive summonses if they fail to pay the fine. That means a single infraction can often mushroom into multiple summonses, resulting in an inability to secure a job and housing.” (Law 2008). Simply put, all the fines may add up if the person is unable to pay. THEN having so many criminal citations only makes it harder to get hired if a company requires background
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.
Tunstall, L. (2009). Homelessness: an overview. EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. Retrieved February 5, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com/pov/detail?hid=119&sid=d5f751fa-0d0d-4ed1-8deb-483e701af50c%40sessionmgr111&vid=3&bdata=Jmxhbmc9ZW4tY2Emc2l0ZT1wb3YtY2Fu#db=p3h&AN=28674966
Many of the homeless population are not homeless by choice, many have lost the only job in the household, many are military veterans that have not assimilated back to civilian life, and some are homeless due to natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. It can happen to anyone of us. A hurricane, earthquake or wildfire that is out of control can destroy your home within minutes. We must never say never when it comes to the possibility of being homeless, especially when we consider the impact that natural disasters have. Worldwide natural disasters render middle class people near poverty and the poor, homeless.
Camping is a fun activity for friends and family, that’s the time where they share their memories, and also make new ones. On the other hand, camping is when people are trying to stay off the rain, and wild animals form attacking them. That’s when camping is a time their lives depends on it. The article “Camping for their lives” by Scott Bransford talk about small and big cities that is over populated with homeless citizens. The article talks about what is happening in the scene, and what they have to face each and everyday order to survive.
It is true that some individuals are homeless not because of bad habits one might have, but because of financial reasons. A lot of society that is part of this problem is because they simply do not make enough at their low
Rollinson, Paul A. "The everyday geography of the homeless in Kansas City."Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 80.2 (1998): 101-115. Web
Homelessness is a problem that happens in many different countries around the world. Definitions of homelessness are defined in different meanings by different people. However, the Stewart B. McKinney Act defines a homeless person as “ one who lacks a fixed permanent nighttime residence or whose nighttime residence is a temporary shelter, welfare hotel, or any public or private place not designed as sleeping accommodations for human beings” (McNamara 1025). It is impossible to find out exactly the number of homeless; however, the researchers can do a study to estimate that number. Based on different statistics from different researchers, the homeless population in America has been increasing as “an alarming rate” (Markos and Lima). Therefore, even though America is one of the most powerful countries in the world, homelessness, which has many common causes, has always been a big problem in society.
Olivet, J. (2010, July 7). The History of Homelessness in America, 1640-Present - Street News Service. Home - Street News Service. Retrieved April 10, 2011, from http://www.streetnewsservice.org/news/2010/july/feed-240/the-history-of-homelessness-in-america,-1640-present-.aspx
The homeless are alienated by laws passed by government, at the federal, state, and local levels, that restrict them and their survival methods. David Bender, author of
There are many other cases of why the homeless are homeless like domestic violence, mental illness, addictions, and unaffordable health care. Homelessness is a problem which has been caused by many different aspects but mainly money because of massive unemployment rates. A hidden aspect to homelessness that we may not think of is ...
“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 not a disease. It is not a virus, not a condition, nor bacteria. Homelessness is a state where a person does not have a permanent residential. This includes people who live in shelters, motels and on the streets. They do not have homes because of the rising prices of housing. In New York City alone, 61,931 people are homeless as of September 2016. This is an epidemic in New York, not because of the sheer number of homeless people, but because of the lack of support from the local government. Homeless people are ignored by citizens, attacked by youth and abused by police officers. The New York Police Department even instituted Move Along Policy where homeless people who are idle for too long are forced to move their locations. This could be sitting on a bench for too long or falling asleep in a train station. So displaced citizens are not only homeless, but they are not allowed to reside in familiar locations without fear of being harassed by policemen. The youth of New York City find entertainment in harming homeless people. They would attack them, throwing bottles at them, hitting them, in hopes of knocking them unconcious. And these homeless people who do not have jobs often ask for money in the streets. And people just walk past them without even bothering with them. Because
These are the enactment of new laws and statutes that are intended to limit or restrict the activities of the homeless, disproportionate and discriminatory enforcement of existing laws and ordinances, and the manipulation of the physical environment to restrict its usage by people who are homeless. This includes hindering the use of public space by designing park benches so that people cannot lie down and sleep on them, or moving ventilation grates off of sidewalks and into streets. These also include the enactment and enforcement of laws that make it illegal to sleep, sit, or store personal belongings in public spaces where people are forced to live in and includes selective enforcement of more neutral laws, such as loitering, jaywalking, or open container laws, against homeless persons (National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty 2009; McNamara, Crawford, and Burns 2013; Simpson 2015). Others includes sweeps of city areas in which homeless persons are living to drive them out of those areas, which frequently results in damage to an individual’s personal property such as important personal documents and medication. Cities also enforce a wide range of “quality of life” ordinances related to public activities and hygiene (i.e. public urination) when no public facilities are available to people without housing (National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty 2009; Simpson 2015; Forst
The idea of homelessness is not an effortlessly characterized term. While the normal individual comprehends the essential thought of vagrancy, analysts in the sociological field have connected conflicting definitions to the idea of homelessness, justifiably so as the thought includes a measurement more exhaustive than a peculiar meaning of a single person without living arrangement. Homelessness embodies a continuum running from the nonappearance of a changeless safe house to poor living courses of action and lodging conditions. As per Wolch et al. (1988), homelessness is not an unexpected experience rather it is the zenith of a long procedure of investment hardship, disconnection, and social disengagement that has influenced a singular or family. Furthermore, states of vagrancy may come in fluctuating structures, for example, road habitation, makeshift home in safe houses, or help from administration associations, for example, soup kitchens and the Salvation Army. Homeless is characterized as those regularly poor and, once in a while, rationally sick individuals who are unable to uphold a spot to live and, subsequently, regularly may rest in boulevards, parks, and so forth (Kenyon 1991).
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.