Personal Essay On Being Homeless

     To be homeless is to not have a home or a permanent place of residence. Nationwide, there is estimated to be 3.5 million people that are homeless, and roughly 1.35 million of them are children. It is shown that homeless rates, which are the number of sheltered beds in a city divided by the cities population, have tripled since the 1980’s (National Coalition for Homeless, 2014). Worldwide, it is estimated that 100 million children live and work on the streets. Homeless children are more at risk than anyone else, and are among the fastest growing age groups of homelessness. Single women with children represent the fastest growing group of homeless, accounting for about 40% of the people that are becoming

Living in a household of ten members was really tough. I can remember going to the store and not being able to buy anything I wanted. We barely had enough money to buy something for us to eat. It was hard for me to understand why my parents always said no to me when I asked for a candy, but later on, I realized my parents were struggling to get food on our table. Sometimes I would go hungry to bed, worried about what we would eat the next day. Living a childhood in poverty has made me realize that the little I had was enough for me to be happy and to appreciate what little we had because my mom always told me “there are other people who have less than we do”.

Being homeless is probably the hardest challenge you can try to overcome. It’s when you just really need some money to stay alive. We should support these people with money so they can stay alive. It’s just wrong to just walk by without even giving these people a thought. Some of them might just be looking for a shelter. Or just need some money to get their lives going again. Most of them have just had really hard lives and need some help.

Homelessness is a major problem in the United States. An incredibly vulnerable group is the homeless youth due to their young age and lack of education. According to Edidin, Ganim, Hunter, & Karnik (2012) on any particular night in the United States there are ~2 million homeless youth living on the streets, in shelters, or in other temporary accommodation. Youth become homeless for multiple reasons whether it be because they have aged out of foster care, ran from home, were kicked out of their home, or because they have become homeless along with their family members. Within the umbrella categorization of homeless youth there are high at risk subgroups, common misconceptions, and a serious concern of lack of support and medical services.

I was born very early and had teenage parents who did not really have their life together at that time. My parents were both high school dropouts. My dad dropped out because school was not for him and he just wanted to work and get money and my mom dropped out because school was not for her also and she was pregnant with me and did not want to deal with school. My dad worked everyday to keep our family moving and my mom just stayed at my grandmas house with me because obviously she had to take care of me. So we were living by paycheck to paycheck. One year later my sister was born and two years later after that my other sister was born. Since my parents really did not have that much money to get our own place we would live at my grandmas house to my papa’s house but at times we would have to camp out at the beach because we had no other choice. When we would live at the beach I would think that we were just camping for fun but I did not realize that we did not have any place to stay. My parents clothed me and my sisters, provided food for us, but we did not have a house over our head. So

In this paper, I will focus on the topic of why veterans are coming back homeless. Veterans are seen as a savior of the country they are risking their lives for every day, so why is it that they are coming back from tours and service and ultimately ending up homeless? Since 2009 the United States stated that in five years they would end veteran homeless, but the United States is still facing veteran homelessness in the year 2017. Though the homeless rates of veterans have gone down since then, why are veterans still facing homelessness if so many resources are supposed to be available for them. Is there more than meets the eye when it comes to homelessness especially with veterans, yes. Many things can attribute to this continuing issue such as lack of assistances provided, mental illnesses, PTSD, lack or loss of support from being deployed, the use of drugs and alcohol as coping strategies, and the economics.

Throughout the United States, there are a large number of individuals that goes unnoticed. Hidden in right plain sight, but are overlooked. They can be our friends, family, classmates, or the person standing right next you to at this moment. There are young individuals who are facing the tremendous challenge of being homeless. They are overlooked by many in society. However, there have been countless individuals, groups, organizations dedicated to ending youth homelessness. However, they are confronted with challenges due to the lack of interest. The lack of interest found within society can contribute to barriers to ending youth homelessness.

Homelessness can sometimes seem like a surreal thing which does not actually happen to real people, or at least not to the people you know. However, statistically speaking, thirty thousand people are homeless on any given night. For every one of these homeless people, three point five people are what is known as ‘hidden homeless’. Commonly referred to as couch surfers, these are people who have no permanent residence, but stay with relatives or friends temporarily. Young people aged sixteen to twenty four are twenty percent of the homeless population. With these high numbers of homelessness right while we are in high school and while pursuing higher education, of course a large majority are also attempting to cope with homelessness.

I was forced into a situation where I had to grow up very quickly and had to be strong. Those days sparked a fire in me that has carried with me throughout my life with determination and dedication to be the best I can be, not only for myself, but from where I am from. I have kindled this fire inside of me from those events and lived off of it, breathed it. I have seen devastation and destruction in my very own front yard, and it only pushed me to become something great, for those days caused me to open my eyes and see the world for what it really is. It caused me to realize that life can be very hard, and can throw us for a loop, but no matter what through hard work and dedication I can achieve my goals and dreams. Through my hard work and dedication I can build up success from the ground up, just as the city of Waveland has done. Throughout the eleven years after Hurricane Katrina I have seen the world around me rebuilt, and with it I have built myself. I have created a structure that supports a mindset of dedication, commitment, and hard work to reach my goals. I have persevered through the struggles of living in a ghost town, of coming home to no

What factors decide if people are homeless or not? People who lack permanent housing or live in any unstable situations such as vehicles and shelters are considered homeless; even people who have to “double up” with their friends are considered homeless because they cannot maintain their own housing. As a whole, homelessness has been one of the biggest problems for a long time mainly due to the fact that housing is expensive, shelters not opening until freezing temperatures, etc. The highest population of homeless people today in America are currently in Los Angeles, CA and New York City, NY. The biggest problem for the homelessness is the winter as many do not have appropriate clothing and many do not wish to live in shelters as it’s sometimes

(“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have little”)- Franklin D Roosevelt. Today Homelessness is becoming a huge problem in the streets of California. So why is it difficult for people to escape homelessness? Even though some people may argue that homelessness cannot be prevented, homelessness is preventable because everyone should have the right to housing, food, and the government should step in to help control the growth of homelessness in America.

Walking through a major city or metropolitan area there are a countless number of people who are wearing old and ripped clothing, carrying bags or pushing grocery carts full of junk, looking like they have not bathed in weeks and most of them holding signs begging for change just so they can eat something that day. Over the past eight years the amount of homeless individuals has continuously decreased throughout the country. Homelessness in America is a serious problem, especially with higher rates in unemployment happening. Americans

A common misconception that still lingers within society today is the belief that a child is a vulnerable innocent in need of protection and nurturing rather than being an active social agent. According to Halsall, “childhood and youth are not timeless; they are subject to the same historical shifts and institutional factors that shape human experience.” Several complex forces shape children and youth which are uniquely constructed in different societies at different times. Amidst the millions of children in America today, the National Center of Family Homelessness reported that approximately a staggering 2.5 million children in America are homeless each year. In addition, amongst this vast population, it is generally recognized that

I met Julie at the Homelessness in Berkeley panel that she moderated in September. I appreciated her discussion of the import of imagery, stereotypes, and language in shaping our social structures and circumstances. For example, she explained that she said “people experiencing homelessness” instead of “homeless people” to not label the person as if to define them by their circumstances. I would add that the latter phrase, like others of its ilk, can serve to insidiously “naturalize” those structures that harm folks and thus seemingly absolve those of us with privilege within it of our duty to work to change them. My interview with Julie expanded on this theme.

Imagine a young child growing up, learning, and trying to further his or her life to obtain success in the future. For an “everyday” child this can be challenging, however “everyday” obstacles can be overcome. For thousands of children in the United States, this dream is almost impossible to achieve. These children are a part of the homeless population that is spread throughout the United States. Many times these individuals try to hide this major secret from the rest of the world, but homelessness is very prevalent among these youths today. Various problems occur in these peoples’ lives that others could not even begin to understand. Homelessness affects children in every stage of life physically, mentally, and emotionally.