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Homelessness is an issue in American society today that affects anywhere from 800,000 to 3.5 million people. There are a substantial amount of people that are without shelter, food, or employment, and there are numerous other people affected by poverty and homelessness. People living in nearly every city in the United States are affected by homelessness due to the large amounts of homeless individuals living on the streets and begging for money, food, and other necessities. The issue of homelessness has been a constant problem since the conquering of the New World, and soup kitchens and homeless shelters have not been able to fully end homelessness. Especially today, with a lack of affordable housing and high unemployment rates, homelessness is prevalent.

“One diverse population that has continued to increase over the quarter of a century is composed of people who are homeless” (Baggerly & Zalaquett, 2006, p.155). Homelessness has become a growing problem in society because more and more people are finding themselves to be homeless and not knowing where to turn. Many people do not

     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

In the United States the homeless population continues to grow rapidly. Homelessness has been a public health issue for many decades. Often times these individuals feel as though society has turned a blind eye to them. This at risk population is seen by society as lazy or chose to live a life on the streets, but if one would examine this population closely would see that there is more to this at risk population than what society has labeled them as. The forces, which affect homelessness, are multifaceted. Social forces such as family breakdown, addictions, and mental illnesses are in combined with structural forces such as lack of low-cost housing, insufficient health services, and poor economic conditions. Many would

Adoption of laws and policies that punish homeless people rather than addressing the problems that cause homelessness is an ineffective approach. Penalizing people for engaging in innocent behavior – such as sleeping in public, sitting on the sidewalk, or begging – will not reduce the occurrence of these activities or keep homeless people out of public spaces when they have no other place to sleep or sit or no other means of living. With insufficient resources for shelter and services for homeless people, enforce punishment for unavoidable activities is not only pointless, it is inhumane (Brown,1999, July/August). Relying on law enforcement officials and jails to address homelessness and related issues, such as mental illness and substance abuse, that are more appropriately handled by service providers, causes problems and widespread frustrations within the criminal justice system. Police officers are not adequately trained to respond to the situations that arise, the criminal justice system does not provide the necessary treatment

A place of safety and security is something that many of us take for granted, until we are confronted in our own neighborhood by someone holding up a sign pleading for help. Homelessness is a problem that has been afflicting hundreds of thousands of people around the world for ages. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, on a single night in 2016, 549,928 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States. That means that there were at least 500,000 individuals suffering without a place to lay their heads at night. In this report I will be discussing the causes of homelessness, who is affected, how it affects people, and homeless mistreatment.

Homelessness in America has existed for some time now, but has grown and changed majorly over the years since the 1980’s. According to Mary Hombs, “the prevailing stereotype of a homeless person was that of a middle-aged white urban male alcoholic” (6). But now there is no stereotype because homelessness could happen to anyone at any moment, so that is why it important to be aware. Millions of people in this country do not have a place to live including whole families, children, veterans, and even the mentally ill. Going day after day without food or shelter. Throughout this paper the main focus will be answering the questions: What is homelessness?; What are the main causes of homelessness?: Who is the homeless?; and How do the people of this country assist the homeless?

Communities often make more of an effort to chase out or hide the homeless rather than take steps that might eliminate the causes of homelessness. Laws usually include prohibiting loitering in public areas such as parks and train stations. Police officers sometimes take aggressive actions against homeless individuals to enforce homeless regulations (“Dealing With” 8-9). Communities that try to regulate the homeless have a negative impact on public support for rehabilitation programs. Laws that target the homeless support the view that it is not homelessness that is the problem but the people who are affected by it. Money that could be used to fund homeless agencies is instead used to bring homeless citizens to

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

Homelessness has always been a problem for the United States. Since its birth as a nation, there have consistently been individuals who find themselves without a place to live, looking for shelter with family, friends, or simply anywhere they can find it. These individuals have been targeted as candidates for social aid, but this was primarily provided by churches and other care organizations. However, in the past thirty years the homeless population has increased almost exponentially in numbers. While the cause of this is undetermined, it is quite certain that while the

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a non-profit organization that voices the issue of homelessness, enlightens, “On a single night in January 2014, 578,424 people were experiencing homelessness – meaning they were sleeping outside or in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program” (The State of Homelessness in America 2015). Staggering statistics similar this inspired Matt Lynch to write his article titled ‘The Homeless Lack a Political Voice, But Not American Ideals’ and it also motivated Anna Quindlen to express her emotions in ‘Homeless.’ Both articles posed by Lynch and Quindlen contain comparative flaws, which range from logical fallacies to the utilization of unfair information. Each writing, however, incorporates multiple pieces of significant information relative to the topic at hand, yet Lynch’s work manages to pull ahead with the addition of minor, yet important, details that Quindlen failed to propose.

Homelessness is an aspect of society, which most people chose not to acknowledge. With the increasing amount of issues the United States faces, homelessness tends to be forgotten when the time comes for the government to establish what issues they should assist. Due to the substantial amount of issues the government concerns itself with, homelessness does not receive the necessary attention required and is improperly handled. In today’s society poverty-stricken individuals or families is too much of a common occurrence to be treated as lightly as it is. Additional government intervention is necessary in order to supply the needed resources, which can prevent the further spread of homelessness. The United States government is obligated to protect its citizens and should care about the constant growth of homelessness. Through economic policies and community advertisements, the government can control the issue of individuals who are facing poverty.

The issue of homelessness has been called as one that is "highly ambiguous and intangible" (Neale, 1997, p.7). Wright defines the homeless a "diverse, heterogeneous lot. No single catch phrase or easy myth can possibly describe them all" (p.46)

The lack of dignity that these individuals feel is a direct effect of society’s disrespect for the lower class. The stereotypes of the homeless conceived by upper social classes, cause the lower class to lose any respectable role they may have in society. A homeless man in Oberlin, Ohio says, “Many of us historically invisible people, in our quest for visibility, have chosen to take the routes of organization and alliance building. Often we tend to find that our muted voices have more resonance, bass, and credibility within these snugly, institutionally sanctioned cubby holes” (Laymon). After failing to get sufficient help through

Throughout the United States, homelessness and poverty have become an overwhelming issue. From people losing their jobs to others having to give up their homes, nearly 14.5 percent of Americans experience some type of poverty. This could look like a small percentage to some but in reality, it's more than 45 million people. While this number may be decreasing, the stereotype of those who are in poverty still remains. It is often thought that those in poverty are non-educated addicts and are generally criminal people. This, however, fails to be proven true. In my personal experiences, it was believed that the homeless and impoverished were of a lower social level and it was easy to assume the poor were in their walk of life for more reasons than simply not having money. Drugs, crime, and poverty all seemed to have the same definition.