A Problem Of Homelessness In New York City

Homelessness in America could be considered a major issue considering that over five hundred thousand people are currently homeless in America.We see it everywhere yet it is not talked about.In the interest of finding a solution to homelessness in America we must learn the history behind it, take a look at all of it's contributors, and lastly see what exactly are we doing in order to avoid it as much as possible. Something must to be done to aid the situation before it spirals out of control.

Every New Yorker has the right to a safe and affordable place to live in. New York’s shortage of affordable housing has reached a crisis point. Poor and elderly people throughout New York City are at a greater risk of homelessness and forced low-income residents do not have food or medical care to stay in their homes. A sinful structure of homelessness in New York City is New York’s shortage of affordable housing. Millions of New Yorkers are desperate to find affordable housing and tens of thousands are forced to live either in dirty shelters or on the streets. Recent data indicates that nearly 60,000 people, including more than 23,000 children, stay in the city’s main homeless shelter system (Guelpa). A small amount of poor renter households received a housing subsidy from the local government. Little assistance is being provided which means that most poor families and individuals that seek assistance

Seeing homelessness develop is a process that the older generation can say they have been apart of. The young generation, on the other hand, cannot say they have seen the development of homelessness. People who are thirty years old or younger have grown up believing that homelessness was always part of the landscape. The younger generation has come to believe that there have always been homeless people sitting on park benches. When an individual is asked what they see most in a large city like Chicago or New York, ‘homeless people’ is a common response. According to the United States Census Bureau, 320.8 million individuals currently live in the United States of America. Imagine the proportion of individuals that do not own a car or even a house to live in. The National Law Center on Homelessness and poverty did studied to conclude that in America more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year. Those concerned with the issue of homelessness are curious as to what events had to have happened that lead to the individuals living on the streets. The reasons are different for each and every person. Some of the more major issues that contribute to this are lack of affordable housing, declining welfare assistance, and most importantly, mental illness. Resolving the issue of homelessness is very possible with new ways of housing and treatment for the mentally ill. The relation between the homeless and the mental illness has risen, and the United States as a whole

Today's world is filled with both great tragedy and abundant joy. In a densely populated metropolis like New York City, on a quick walk down a street you encounter homeless people walking among the most prosperous. Unfortunately, nine times out of ten the prosperous person will trudge straight past the one in need without a second thought. A serious problem arises when this happens continually. The problem worsens when you enter a different neighborhood and the well-to-do are far from sight. Many neighborhoods are inhabited only by the most hopeless of poverty - ridden people while others downtown or across the park do not care, or are glad to be separated from them. Such is the problem in New York City today and in Mott Haven in Jonathan

The problem of homelessness in America is growing dramatically. It's a problem that can strike anyone when you least expect it. Therefore you should address this as a major crisis that affects our society. I feel as Americans we should come together to create solutions to end a growing epidemic of homeless people.

The problem I am going to discuss is homelessness in Long Island. What is homelessness and who defines it? Homelessness is a person lacking adequate shelter or otherwise residing below the minimal standard of what is considered a safe dwelling. The federal definition of homeless is an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, or adequate nighttime residence (HUD, 2011). Homelessness is not just a problem in big cities like New York or Los Angeles, but rather it is a global epidemic affecting small towns and suburbs such as Long Island.

Large shelters are notoriously overcrowded and often unruly places where people experience the ritualized indignities of destitution: long lines for bedding or a squeeze of toothpaste; public showers; thieves; conflict. Many people have voted with their feet, and as a result, street homelessness persists.

The controversial issue of the homeless in New York has been an ongoing battle for several years. Many leaders like Andrew Cuomo have come to the conclusion that obligating homeless people into shelters should be enforced, yet others oppose the idea. They believe such harsh actions shouldn 't be taken. Journalist like Hinckley, who wrote "Can New York Force Homeless People into Shelters?" and Marc Santo, who wrote "Keep New York 's homeless off the streets!" have written articles with fact based information with details on the homeless living conditions. In my opinion, such actions shouldn 't occur. The homeless in New York have the right to choose their living conditions, therefore they shouldn 't be obligated to be put in shelters.

Race plays another factor in poverty and homelessness. The African Americans represent the biggest group at 57%, Whites is 30%, Hispanics is 10%, Native Americans are 2% and Asians 1% (Homeless Action Network of Detroit, 2015). What causes homelessness and what can be done to prevent it? There is no definite reason but there are several driving forces why people become homeless, such as job loss, chronic unemployment, losing home to foreclosure and domestic violence are a few reasons. Still, poverty is the driving factor for many families facing homelessness. According to Svoboda (2015), among the nations twenty biggest cities Detroit has a high poverty rate, which comes in at number two next to Flint. 41% of the cities residents live below the federal poverty line, nationality the number is 16% (Svoboda, S., 2015).

People drive or walk past a homeless person almost every day without thinking twice about the plight of that person or they may even unconsciously turn their heads the other way in disgust. Homelessness simply put, means without a home - therefore homelessness is an equal opportunity state that can happen to anyone. Even though we have seen some economic prosperity over the years, statistics show that the number of homeless remains very high. With this in mind, communities need to come together at the state, city, and individual level to come up with solutions to mitigate the spreading of this problem.

New York city’s population is 8.5 million, one in one hundred and forty-seven New Yorkers are currently homeless. it is estimated that 58,000 homeless men, women and children sleep in homeless shelters and at least 3,100 sleep in the streets during winter. (Bowery). By looking at the sociological impact of homelessness, I will argue that New York city’s greatest problem is homelessness.

Homelessness is an injustice to everybody, not just homeless people. Homelessness is bad for the economy and is bad for the image of this beautiful country. Nobody wants to hear it, but homelessness is a growing

There are many causes that cause homelessness. These causes are unemployment, lack of affordable housing, and poverty. One of the biggest causes of homelessness ismany New Yorkers being unemployed. When one is unemployed the tend to lose everything they have. For example, if a person was to become unemployed and had a house or car, they'll eventually lose the car or the house and become homeless without the job. The second big cause is the lack of affordable housing. Many New Yorkers know the struggle of not finding affordable housing. While living in New York many people come across housing that they can't afford being that rent is increasing as more buildings are being made and people from other countries move into New York. The last but not least big cause is poverty.those who are dealing with poverty are families that are hanging on a thread. Families who are living in poverty are also extremely poor families. These families struggle to keep

The primary causes of chronic homelessness include poverty, disability, mental illness, along with substance abuse or addiction. Poverty is a challenging but is a doable cycle to break and becomes progressively difficult to get out once you begin to fall behind a specific income level. Once people reach that point they are then usually not able to obtain the proper resources for the acquired knowledge and resources that are necessary for a higher paying job. Disability affects an immense percentage of the homeless. This is frequently caused by an injury that prevents them from working numerous jobs within their societies and without their dependable

Homeless people have become a major issue facing cities today for two reasons. First they add to the pollution problem in cities and they