Unseen Homelessness: A Hidden Crisis in America

Homelessness and Covenant House

The United States of America in today’s society is viewed as one of the most influential countries in the world because of its massive army and widespread political power that are able to help correct injustices that America see’s in other countries around the world. America’s generosity and political tact when dealing with other countries around the world allow America to be viewed as an example of a large nation where dreams are able to come true and everyone is in charge of their own destiny to ensure all people are able to live successful lives. While this is indeed true for some, it isn’t for all and those people are unfortunately forced to live in extremely terrible conditions because of their lack of wealth.

Many statistics show that the poverty rate in America is 14.8 percent and that the rate for children to live in poverty is 21.1 percent (“Basic statistics,” n.d.). Those statistics, while initially appearing bad become simply unacceptable when looked at from the perspective of America being one of the richest and most influential countries in the world. The nation’s high poverty rate will begin to effect other aspects of life. The high level of poverty experienced in America takes a substantial toll on the population because while some are lucky enough to be able to withstand changes to the economy many living at or below the poverty line cannot and are thus forced into homelessness.
Homelessness, while not a new occurrence it has been discussed considerably more in recent years due to the change in the demographics of those who are considered homeless. This means that within the past twenty years the increase in families that have children being homeless has sparked greater attention and cause a resurgence in the government working to try to fight homelessness. Even with the government actively trying to help and homelessness decreasing by 2.3 percent there are still many in need (“The State of Homelessness in America 2015”, 2015).
Homelessness can affect a wide range of people all around the world because homelessness can happen rapidly when an economy unexpectedly takes a turn for the worst.

Many families become homeless because they were already close to the poverty line and a swift change in the economy that results in a loss of a job can cause a family to experience homelessness. Veterans also make up a significant portion of the homeless population with around 8 percent of homeless being veterans (“Snapshot of homelessness,” n.d). Youth are often a widely thought about group that are often left homeless due to family conflict and are unable to be helped to the extent of adults because youth are less likely to be able to receive the same options to help them as adults and because they are less likely to seek help (“Snapshot of homelessness,” n.d). An additional homeless group are those considered to be a part of a group called the chronic homeless, “"Chronic" has a specific definition, involving either long-term and/or repeated bouts of homelessness coupled with disability (physical or mental)”, (“Snapshot of homelessness,” n.d., para. 17). This group while thought to be the most prevalent when discussing homelessness actually only makes up around 15 percent of the homeless population (“Snapshot of homelessness,” n.d). While circumstances may vary as to what may cause a person or family to become homeless the predominant cause is the lack of affordable housing (“Snapshot of homelessness,”

n.d.).
These people are greatly affected by this issue because once a person is homeless they are a major disadvantage to the rest of society because they lack many basic resources needed to be a functioning member of society. A homeless individual is less likely to have the resources needed in order to get a job, like a phone number or internet to communicate with future employers and which effects how long they may stay homeless because they are unable to find a job.
As stated previously the history of homelessness dates back hundreds of years in America with it become a major problem during the great depression because the poor economy at the time forced many people out of jobs and/or into debt. During the 1970s the mentally ill became a large number of the homeless population because of the deinstitutionalizing of these patients (Scherl & Macht, 1979).
This situation has had a critical impact on society because it can have a dramatic effect on the job market, federal spending and how society may prosper in the future. This impact is seen in the amount of money spent from both federal and state governments too other organizations who must then work to create better housing rather than channeling resources into other things. Also this issue has an effect on children and youth because many homeless children and youth are unable to steadily attend school or do attend school but are unable to have adequate resources necessary to succeed to their fullest potential. Also children may lack certain developmental skills because of the unconventional life they lived during a time in their life when child’s mind is developing most. The amount of crimes committed by the homeless such as stealing or trespassing have a major impact on our society because the crimes then cause more resources to be used in order to fix a problem (the crime committed) because of another problem (homelessness).
Due to the large numbers of homelessness all around the world many organizations have begun to try to help deal with the homeless population in various ways. The Covenant House is an organization that was created in an effort to help homeless youth to stop living off the streets. Covenant House was founded in 1972 by its first president Father Bruce Ritter who was president from 1972 to 1990. Today it is “the largest privately funded charity in the Americas providing loving care and vital services to homeless, abandoned, abused, trafficked, and exploited youth” (“About Covenant House” n.d., para. 1). Covenant House currently has shelters in over a dozen cities in the United States and in various other parts of North America outside of the United States. This agency is very large and has hundreds of staff to help its many houses all of North America. An executive staff of less than a dozen people are at the head of the agency. Covenant House also has a board of directors composed of various people with a wide array of occupational backgrounds that help by giving added insight to better help the organization.
Covenant Houses allow homeless and runaway youth a safe place to stay temporarily while the youth is able to better plan for their future. Covenant House structures their charity in a way that works hard to ensure they help as many people as possible by working hard to help the youth who come to them establish lives for themselves in order to be productive members to society. This help can be in many ways like helping to gain educational and professional skills to help get a job so that they are able to then afford an apartment. Covenant House is also able to help in ways that effect a person’s mind by offering many types of counseling opportunities so that the people who enter come out better able to adjust in society. This program requires a great deal of work on the part of its participants which helps make it successful in helping the people it comes in contact with. This agency is able to help youth assimilate into the real world which is a good thing because assimilation back into society can be seen as a barrier to many in some cases.
Covenant House is funded mostly through the use of donors. Covenant House’s website states “In 2015, 80% of Covenant House Funding came from private donors and foundations. 14% of expenses went to fundraising, 13% to administration, and 73% of all funds went to direct services to help kids. Financial integrity keeps us focused on homeless kids.” (Financials. n.d., para. 1).
Covenant House’s main mission is to help house homeless and runaway youth. Covenant House also focuses on helping the youth they encounter gain skills to be better equipped for the world. Covenant House is also very adamant about improving policies to better help homeless and trafficked youth (“The Covenant House 60x20 Strategic Plan (2015 - 2020)” n.d., para. 6). Covenant House is very dedicated to achieving its goals to help the homeless and runaway youth. They work hard to maintain various programs operating in many Covenant Houses to help the youth that come to them gain skills. Covenant House helps also uses its resources to help the people that come to them find assistance with housing and childcare as well.
This agency has had many years of success which has helped it to expand in the ways it has today. Each of its various houses in various cities across North America help serve thousands of children each a year. As of 2015 it is reported that over 50,000 youth were served with almost 30,000 being helped through residential and community service center programs and the remaining being served through outreach programs (Financials. n.d., para. 5). Covenant House hasn’t faced any notable criticism in recent years however Covenant House was at the center of a scandal because of inappropriate acts committed by its founder and president at the time.
Homelessness is a social problem that can be identified through and helped resolved in a number of sociological concepts. The first concept is the Conflict Theory used to examine the inequalities in the world. This theory examines how the classes are in a constant struggle. This contrast and conflict is especially felt between the highest class and the lowest class. Conflict Theory is able to explain how in society everyone has the same basic needs however when everyone isn’t able to meet their basic needs conflict can happen because of the unequal treatment of one class. The conflict theory see’s society as the various social classes being in constant conflict with one another based on the inequality between the groups. This conflict comes from the power imbalance where the people at the top of society work hard to maintain their power over the masses. This theory can be used as a way to help solve the homeless problem because it acknowledges a major problem that causes homelessness. It is clear that through the use of the conflict theory that the most obvious way to end homelessness is to allow for a shift in the economy that would help to balance the class systems so that one group can afford to live more comfortably in homes because they are able to have the money to live in affordable homes.
Another theory that can be useful when explaining homelessness is the functionalist theory. This theory is used to explain that the reason society is able to work as well as it does is because every part of society serves a function that is able to help the overall system. By using the functionalist perspective it can be shown that while homelessness isn’t something that is usually associated with being good it can serve a purpose within society. This means that even though homelessness is essentially a disruptive social problem it can be shown to be a useful part of the social system. By having populations of homeless many opportunities are presented to help solve the problem The functionalist perspective sees all parts of society such as homelessness as important because it helps the system by creating jobs for people to deal with many of the problems because of large homeless populations.
In America and in many other places around the world many people are without basic necessities such as homes.

This is a major social problem because being without a home can lead to many problems not only for an individual but for a whole society. When an individual is effected by homelessness it can have an impact on the way that people may view themselves, this can effect self-esteem which in some cases can cause individuals to not want to come out of homelessness because they have accepted such a fate. This can also affect how homeless people view the rest of society. Many people who have been homeless for a extended periods of time have been shown to show distrust of government and others this has been especially proven when dealing with youth who actively try to avoid aid because in many cases adults have been distrustful. Organizations such as Covenant House very important to society because they are able to identify issues seen and make an effort to change them so that in the future society will be better equipped to handle this issue because while the conflict theory suggests a solution, although highly improbable, to this problem it may also be possible that homelessness won’t go away because for now it is able to serve a purpose in

society.