I. Acknowledge the homeless with the same respect we do for friends, family and acquaintances.
a. Often times, people find themselves on the street from unlikely circumstances such as job loss, a run away, or being unable to afford their rent.
i. Philip Webb addresses that many homeless people do have jobs, however they work irregularly and receive low rates of pay (2014, p. 90). ii. Jobs require employees with proper personal hygiene, whether it’s at McDonalds or a janitorial position.
1. As homelessness increases, wait lists for shelters stretch longer resulting in lack of accessibility to showers, washing machines, and shelter. iii. According to Bill Quigley of the Huffington Post (2014), “There is enough public rental assistance to only help about one out of every four extremely low-income households.”
b.
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Responding to the homeless with a kind gesture and initiating conversation can ease their self alienation and loneliness.
i. Bill Quigley of the Huffington Post (2014) adds that one in five people who are homeless suffer from mental illnesses which may be a factor of emotional distress.
II. Donating various goods and services can eventually aid the homeless with getting their lives back on
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.
Society has helped the homeless by donating clothes, sending food, and making shelters for them. Even schools have fundraisers for the homeless people in their local area. One example is the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness, the website shows statistics about hunger, poverty and homelessness. It also shows how we can step up and help the homeless. “Just in Minnesota alone there are hundreds of shelters for the homeless.”
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.
After reviewing the literature, this author pinpointed several environmental, individual, and agent factors, which make up the epidemiologic triad, contribute to the topic of mental health in the homeless.
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).
In this story, poverty and homelessness is the underlying problem. However another problem discussed is whether or not the potential loss of funding sources to help the homeless justify not standing up against policy that negatively affects the homeless population by causing unjust criminalization (Pg. 100). In my heart, and in a perfect world, I would never want to sacrifice my beliefs of fighting for the greater good of all people, but I understand that it is more complicated than this in real life. There is no doubt that we are all born with different opportunities. Our text explains some of the personal factors that determines who is homeless. Some of the contributing causes of homelessness include addiction, disability, mental illness,
Doll, Helen, Fazel, Seena, Geddes, John, and Khosla, Vivek. (2008). “The Prevalence of Mental Disorders Homeless in Western Countries: Review and meta-regression.” PLoS Med 5(12): e225
It is estimated that, “each year, more than 3 million people experience homelessness, including 1.3 million children” (NLCHP). Clearly poverty and Homelessness come hand in hand, and the economy downfall has only contributed to this growing crisis. “Homelessness stems from a lack of affordable housing. Increasing rents, destruction of traditional low-income housing, and cuts in federal housing programs threaten affordable housing with extinction” (NLCHP). Most people in poverty have a housing affordability crisis, which means that they pay more than half of their income for rent, so therefore they have to buffer to deal with unforeseen expenses. This indicates a constantly struggle financially therefore anything such as an accident, sick child, or loss of employment could tip you over the edge. Some including factors that contrib...
The economic component of the homelessness situation can be broken down into two interrelated parts: housing affordability and a low income rate. The economic recession that followed the financial crisis of 2007 left many individuals unemployed during a time that saw a spike in the price of housing. So not only did the cost of living increase, the rate of income also decreased accordingly. Unsurprisingly, during these same years homelessness rose from 24.2 percent in 2007 to 29.4 percent in 2009 (citation).
Homelessness is a vast predicament in America and around the world. It is severely overlooked as people don’t really think of homelessness as real world problem. However, there have been ways that people have tried to fix the problem. They have come up with homeless shelters, emergency shelters, food banks and soup kitchens. These solutions have limitations though, which will hopefully come to an end.
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 ...
Homelessness is a growing epidemic around the world, and poverty is the most common reason most people are forced to face the miserable life of living without shelter. The only way that we can help this unfortunate situation is to take action, and by doing that, we need to know the facts about this unfortunate situation. Over two-million people live in emergency shelters, and transitional housing. With so many people living in poverty, it gives us a better understanding as to why there are so many homeless people today. Having no food, and relying on food kitchens, garbage scraps, and stealing food, is a very tragic situation. With no protection from the elements, many of them will die from heat strokes, or quite frankly, freeze to death. The average american purchases food and other household goods for their families, and some never stop to think of those less...
Although homelessness is widespread and almost next to the catastrophic global hunger problems, it can be brought under control and its effect reduced to a greater percentage. By simply tracking the root causes of low wages and the lack of affordable housing as well as improving other support systems like housing vouchers and health care, homelessness can be solved.
To demonstrate, in the article”Virtually All Homeless People Experience Discrimination”, Keyes revealed that,”one respondent noted that they had been told they couldn’t enter a coffee shop “due to my attire, push cart, my extra bags” (Keyes 1). All people who are in need of aid are able to obtain employment and training under the Workforce Investment Act, WIA. 70.4 percent of the homeless reported that they have felt discriminated against by private businesses. An extensive amount of homeless are homeless cannot find jobs because they are handicapped or have unstable minds. Many of the homeless who are not currently working are making a very large effort in trying to find any job out there and available, but they are constantly being discriminated against by the work force. In fact, in the book The Homeless Opposing Viewpoints backs up the fact the homeless want jobs by stating,”Since 2000, they have seen a doubling amount of homeless applicants still scrabbling to maintain jobs”(The Homeless
Giving to the homeless not only gives hope to others but it also makes you feel good about yourself. It makes you feel proud that your giving someone else a chance to a better life. A writer once said, “Help someone achieve their dreams and you will achieve yours.” You don’t only feel proud of yourself