Liz Murray's Breaking Night

797 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Conclusion on drug abuse and mental health

Overview of the Problem The book “Breaking Night” by Liz Murray is a memoir that describes Liz Murray’s life growing up with a substance addicted mother and father. The memoir recounts Liz Murray’s struggles including taking care of her mother, who battled substance addiction and severe mental illness, truancy, and homelessness. Throughout Liz Murray’s story there were countless systems that failed her and her family. Several systems, including social services and school, could have implemented several federal, state, and local policies that could have provided assistance to Liz Murray’s family and alleviated the stress on Liz Murray that enabled her from successfully attending school on a regular basis. While reading the memoir, I was able to identify two different housing policies that could have been implemented to reduce or eliminate Liz’s risk of homelessness. The two housing policies/programs that were identified were McKinney-Vento Act and the Frank Melville Supportive Housing …show more content…

There are different types of permanent housing that the CoC Progam deems eligible of receiving funds. The first type of permanent housing is permanent supportive housing for individuals with disabilities. Permanent supportive housing is “permanent housing with indefinite leasing or rental assistance paired with supportive services to assist homeless persons with a disability or families with an adult or child member with a disability achieve housing stability” (HUDExchange, para 4). The second type of permanent housing is rapid re-housing, which “emphasizes housing search and relocation service and short-and medium-term rental assistance to move homeless persons and families, which and without a disability, as rapidly as possible into permanent housing” (HUDExchange, para

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Being Unbroken By Laura Hillenbrand And Night

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    Being Unbroken is defined as not being damaged or being fractured. Throughout the two stories; Unbroken, written by Laura Hillenbrand and Night, written by Elie Wiesel, both Louie Zamperini and Elie Wiesel were challenged on many levels, both emotionally and physically. However, their perseverance through their struggles and their optimistic views is what truly got them through the pain and hardships and allowed them to stand tall and not let their faith fail them.

    Read More

  • Sonya Hartnett's The Midnight Zoo

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sonya Hartnett’s ‘The Midnight Zoo’ a touching story that explores the effect war had on animals, children and nature. Both human and animal characters speak about their experiences throughout this period. The book tells about how a hunger for power over something that is not owned impacts everybody and leaves innocents caught up in a large mess.

    Read More

  • Heda Margolius Kovaly's Under A Cruel Star

    1229 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel Under a Cruel Star, written by Heda Margolius Kovaly, a Jewish woman that lived in Prague, Czechoslovakia during Nazi and Soviet rule of her country, the author tells about her life of always living under terrible circumstances. Whether it was from being sent to the ghettos or Nazi concentration camps at a young age, or living under fear of terror during the Soviet Communist rule of Prague, she seems to always look for the glimmer of hope in all her experiences. “The little bird, the third force, kept me alive to tell the story” (5). In this quote, this “little bird” that she references is the slight flicker of freedom that she sees at the end of every bad thing she is faced with. This book reminds people that the history of human’s

    Read More

  • Elizabeth Short - The Black Dahlia

    1555 Words  | 4 Pages

    Elizabeth Short, a 22 year old aspiring actress found dead on January 15, 1947 in Leiment Park, Los Angeles, California [1]. Shorts body was found in a vacant lot on at about 10 a.m. by a housewife named Betty Bersinger, taking a morning stroll with her 3 year old daughter. At first glance, the woman thought the body was a broken store mannequin. Upon realizing what it was she covered her daughters eyes rushed to a nearby house and called the police [2].

    Read More

  • Homelessness in "The Glass Castle"

    1263 Words  | 3 Pages

    A suburban life is a paradise full of shopping, colorful gardens, and well-groomed homes. Despite all these benefits, a suburban life is an isolated life. People living in suburbs are rarely exposed to miseries in society. One of these conflicts is homelessness. When living in an environment surrounded by homes, individuals often have difficulty imagining not being able to sleep in a warm bed, eat a proper meal or even receive necessary medical attention. This grim situation is depicted in the writings of Jeannette Walls. In the autobiography The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls accurately portrays homelessness by explaining its causes, its impact upon daily life, and its effect on victimized families.

    Read More

  • West with the Night, by Beryl Markham

    1630 Words  | 4 Pages

    Beryl Markham’s West with the Night is a collection of anecdotes surrounding her early life growing up as a white girl in British imperialist Africa, leading up to and through her flight across the Atlantic Ocean from East to West, which made her the first woman to do so successfully. Throughout this memoir, Markham exhibits an ache for discovery, travel, and challenge. She never stays in one place for very long and cannot bear the boredom of a stagnant lifestyle. One of the most iconic statements that Beryl Markham makes in West with the Night is:

    Read More

  • Carol Ann Duffy's Mean Time

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    is how time can be 'mean' when one needs a few moments to reflect on

    Read More

  • Homeless Families in America

    3762 Words  | 8 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Comparison of Two Interventions for Homeless Youth Substance Abusers

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    If good intentions, well-meaning programs, and humanitarian gestures could end homelessness, it would be history by now. Since they don’t, it is time to do something different, something that solves the problem, not services the disgrace. (Philip Mangano, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness). The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) defines homeless youth as individuals who are “not more than 21 years of age … for whom it is not possible to live in a safe environment with a relative and who have no other safe alternative living arrangement.” Implicit in this definition is the notion that homeless youth are not accompanied by a parent or guardian (Haber & Toro, 2004). The following essay examines two interventions for homeless youth that abuse drug and alcohol.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Homelessness

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Modern homelessness in the United States is conventionally thought of as arising in the 1980s, a period of dramatic demographic transformation in the homeless population. Traditionally dominated by single men, the homeless population was augmented by an increase in homeless families. This phenomenon can be attributed to a few major structural changes in American society. The first is economic restructuring which influenced the decline of the middle class and growing socioeconomic inequality. Consequently, more people turned to welfare in order make ends meet. Unfortunately, the welfare system had essentially eliminated funding for subsidized housing and adopted increasingly

    Read More

  • Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” tries to shed light on the conflict between women and a society that assign gender roles using a patriarchal approach. Specifically Margaret Bauer highlights, that most of Chopin’s works revolves around exploring the “dynamic interrelation between women and men, women and patriarchy, even women and women” (146). Similarly, in “The Story of an Hour” Chopin depicts a society that oppresses women mostly through the institution of marriage, as women are expected to remain submissive regardless of whether they derive any happiness. The question of divorce is not welcome, and it is tragic that freedom of women can only be realized through death. According to Bauer, the society depicted in Chopin’s story judged women harshly as it expected women to play their domestic roles without question, while on the other hand men were free to follow their dream and impose their will on their wives (149).

    Read More

  • Homeless Essay

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    The homeless population in the United States does not only include the humans out on the streets, but also the ones in living in vehicles, emergency shelters, transitional housing, and other unstable environments. Over six-hundred thousand individuals are currently homeless in the U.S. In our current society, people often become homeless due to circumstances beyond their control. Humans often face abrupt personal and public challenges within their lives causing change and displacement in their housing status without notice nor a choice. In relation to personal reasons for homelessness, individuals who identify as LGBTQ and victims of domestic violence encounter many different situational problems leaving them displaced. Furthermore, there has been a sharp increase in unaffordable housing recently causing other people to suffer issues in a more public manner.

    Read More

  • Homelessness Prevention

    835 Words  | 2 Pages

    Homelessness has become a problem in the city of Cincinnati. Many families are homeless because of job layoffs and exhausted unemployment benefits. Some employed families but do not earn enough wages to support a family and pay for adequate housing. Some people just plain refuse to pay their rent, as a result, the family will receive an eviction from their dwelling and because of the eviction, either they cannot obtain affordable housing under low income status or can’t afford the market rent, therefore they become homeless. Young single mothers can receive welfare benefits (Aid for Dependent Children) for 36 months. During that time they are suppose to be furthering their education or preparing to go to work. If neither is accomplished, the mother will receive medical for the children and food stamps only. If the family is not residing in subsidized housing they may have to stay with family members or seek emergency shelter. According to the Drop Inn center in Cincinnati, Ohio, more than half of the mentally ill is seeking shelter, mostly because they have no advocate (case manager) to make sure their rent is paid. The result is an eviction from the dwelling.

    Read More

  • Helping the Homeless

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hopper, Kim. “Housing the Homeless.” Social Policy 28.3 (1998): 64+. Academic OneFile. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

    Read More

  • Solutions To Homelessness

    1837 Words  | 4 Pages

    Presently, one of the main causes of homelessness in American is the lack of affordable housing. New York researchers claim that affordable housing is the answer to homelessness. Researcher, Mary Beth Shinn, states, ?homelessness is first and foremost a housing problem not a psychological one? (qtd. in Franklin 15.) Nearly all the families in their study became stably housed regardless of substance abuse, mental illness, physical illness or incarceration. This study indicates that homelessness is not a permanent condition. People do get themselves out of the problem when an intervention occurs to provide them with access to the housing market (NYU 2.) Without permanent housing, people are unable to keep jobs and are more likely to become ill. Permanent housing provides stability that enables them to find and retain employment with health benefits.

    Read More

More about Liz Murray's Breaking Night

Open Document