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Rural Homelessness
As the Joad family lost its farm and hit the road in Steinbeck's classic, The Grapes of Wrath, so to did America lose its ability to plead ignorance to the problem of rural homelessness. Yet, as the troubles of the Great Depression, and two million homeless Americans, were eclipsed by a world at war, the issue of homelessness was once again placed on the back burner, and then taken off of the stove altogether (Davis 275). Although this problem has seldom been discussed in the sixty years since, rural homelessness is again on the rise and threatens to become the major problem facing rural America (Rural Homelessness).
Less than ten miles from the intersection of Sprague and Division in downtown Spokane, the problem of rural homelessness in our own community is glaringly evident. At the intersection of Sullivan Road and Interstate 90, in the Spokane Valley, where drivers are momentarily slowed in their rush to get on with life, stands testament that not everyone is sharing in the American dream. With their worn out Levi's, old coats, and sometime mismatched shoes, the homeless work these corners for handouts like pigeons gathered around an old man on a park bench. These people don't ride out here on the number three bus from the STA Plaza, and they don't commute here in the Geos, Hondas, and Cadillacs that are constantly stopping and going with the changing of the lights.
The people that ply these corners with their homemade cardboard "Please Help" signs, are here because this is the closest (and therefore most convenient) corner to where they sleep. A short walk along the rocky northern bank of the Spokane River, west of Sullivan, leads to a camp tucked among the ponderosa's in...
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...ousing Assistance Council. Jan. 2001. 4 Apr. 2001.http://www.ruralhome.org/pubs/infoshts/rhomeles.htm
Vissing, Yvonne. "Homeless Children: Addressing the Challenge in Rural Schools." ERIC Digest. Jan. 1999. 4 Apr. 2001. http://www.ael.org/eric/digests/edorc981.htm.
Wilkinson, Todd. "How small-town America handles rural homelessness." Christian Science Monitor. 16 Mar. 1999. 5 Apr. 2001. http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/03/16/fp2s2-csm.shtml
Zimmerman, Julie. "Rural Poverty: Myths and Realities." Rural Development News. Volume 21. Number 1. Mar. 1997. 4 Apr. 2001 http://www.ag.iastate.edu/centers/rdev/newsletter/mar97/rural.poverty.html.
Zimmerman, Julie. "Rural Poverty: Myths and Realities." Rural Development News. Volume 21. Number 2. June 1997. 4 Apr. 2001. http://www.ag.iastate.edu/centers/rdev/newsletter/june97/rural.poverty.html.
Homelessness has been a long standing problem in the United States dating back to the American Civil War and significantly increased during the Great Depression. After the Great Depression, even when the economy regained strength, homelessness continued to be a widespread problem (NLCHP, 2007). Due to the deindustrialization movement in 1950’s, many people lost their jobs. Factory jobs offered well-paid wages and needed little to no skill base. Therefore, during the deindustrialization movement, people were left with no source of income and no skills to find another job. As a result for the United States Government not establishing anything to a...
Lois M. Collins, Desert News, is also a good strategy for addressing the problem of the homelessness in Tempe. However, it is not as effective as the National Coalition for the Homeless (2006). The former strategy encourages people to donate the excess part of what they own, including food, tools, and water, to needy and homeless individuals (McNamara, 2008). The problem with the strategy is that it does not have the power to mobilize people to donate their belongings to the homeless, as most people wish to keep what they have in excess for future needs and unforeseen eventualities.
Here in Tahoe, we are lucky enough to experience a great quality of life, and only a few have to face the horrible life of poverty and homelessness. However, nationwide, even right outside the basin, homelessness is a growing epidemic across the country. There are many ways one can become homeless; for the most part poverty. There are also different concentrations of homeless in different types of terrain, such as urban or suburban areas. Last, there is the ever- growing homeless population, and how much money it costs us for others to live in poverty. These are the questions we ask ourselves about homelessness, and the only way we can help is to know the facts about this lingering subject.
Hambrick, Ralph S., and Gary T. Johnson. "The future of homelessness."Society 35.6 (1998): 28-37. Web
In 2009, Scott Bransford wrote an article called “Camping for Their Lives”. In this article, Mr. Bransford talks about tent cities and the homeless situation in the western states of the U.S. The author does not give many detailed descriptions of how the homeless come to be in their financial and living situations. Mr. Bransford appears to feel sad for the homeless in his article. He gives several examples of similar scenarios throughout the country, as well as in Canada. Although the article has a somber tone, there is only one side to the story that is given. Mr. Bransford has a few strengths but just as many weaknesses in his article.
Romeo, Jim. "Homelessness in America Is a Growing Problem." Poverty and Homelessness. Ed. Noël Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "A Roof of One's Own: Homelessness Is Growing, but Solutions Are Out There." Planning 71.11 (Dec. 2005): 12-16. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
"Overview of Homelessness In America." Homelessness In America. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013. .
"Overview of Homelessness In America." Homelessness In America. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. .
remove it as it caused him to partially lose control of the army – one
Finkelstein, M. (2005). With no direction home: homeless youth on the road and in the streets. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.
Homelessness has become a serious problem in today’s society. Despite the organizations that help multitudes of homeless people, homelessness is continually increasing. In recent years, America’s culture has been changing due to economic, political, and social issues. These issues have caused a lot of stress on America resulting in abject poverty in several cities. Poverty is not nationwide, but if dealt with lightly, the affects can be catastrophic. Homelessness is increasing more than ever, and research proves that changing culture contributes to rising amount of homelessness.
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.
“When Lorenzo Timmons was hurt and out of work last summer, and finally ran out of money to pay the rent, he had little choice but the unthinkable: to gather his wife, daughter and whatever he could carry and move his family into a homeless shelter. The Houston Press reported in a cover story early this year that the specter of previously stable, working families falling into homelessness was becoming increasingly common in Houston -- and that there were few options for
Homelessness is a crucial factor as to why Americans don’t achieve the ideal “American Dream”. Homelessness is a social issue that affects a widespread group of people, ranging from single individuals to families each year. Many of those who are currently homeless, don’t choose to be homeless, but are forced into living on the streets for reasons such as a financial crisis, divorce, unemployment, mental illness, drug or alcohol abuse, or even a natural disaster that triggers the rising problem of how these individuals will survive. Annually, 3.5 Americans experience an episode of homelessness. That is 75,000 people experiencing homeless each night that others of more comfortable means will never have to experience. (Thompson). Homelessness
In 1987, the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act was put into law. (Burger, 68-83) However, our government has moved away from the need to address the causes of homelessness. Instead our government has focused on the individual responsibility of those who become homeless, blaming their misfortune as their own fault. (Baum, 5-9) It is this belief that has helped to increase the homelessness of our nation, and it is this belief that will continue to do so if our government does not take a closer and more realistic look at the causes behind homelessness in our nation. Unless our government commits to ending homelessness through public education, policy advocacy, and technical assistance, homelessness will become a national disaster for the United States. Right now our government is not doing all it can towards putting into place the necessary solutions to combat homelessness. Who are/where the homeless people are many of the homeless have completed high school. Some have completed college. Some are AIDS victims, many are the elderly, many are children, some are disabled vets, some are illegal immigrants, and many of the homeless hold down full-time jobs. (Berger) They are found not only in cities, but in small towns, rural areas, and affluent suburbs. (Christian). Some even make up the “hidden homeless” (Christian), or people who are one crisis away from losing their homes for a variety of reasons, such as sudden medial emergency or unforeseen h...