Case Study On Light House Homeless Shelter

Homelessness has been a prevalent and contentious topic since its public emergence in the 1980’s. In fact, according to the most recent estimates, on any given night in the United States, there are roughly 645,000 people residing in homeless shelters or unsheltered street locations (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2011). And based on a local study done by the Mental Health Unit at the Houston Police Department in 2011, Houston has the largest homeless population in Texas and the eighth largest in the United States. While many great efforts have been put forth to aid the homeless population in Houston, “the public health epidemiology task of quantifying and tracking child and family homelessness over time has been complicated…by increasing rates of…shortages [in] affordable housing” (Grant et al., 2013), and restrictions on temporary encampments (Loftus-Ferren, 2013). In order to successfully reduce, prevent and combat homelessness, more policies must be put in place to create sustainable, affordable housing for homeless families and to modify current laws that harm homeless individuals.

Housing first is a relatively recent change in the approach to ending homelessness that provides housing as quickly as possible for those who are experiencing homelessness. In this strategy, the importance is focused on the basic needs of immediate shelter for those who are homeless or have been deemed chronically homeless. With a variety of circumstances leading to homelessness, including substance abuse, mental illness, health related issues, and unexpected work related changes; determining a successful policy toward resettlement programs has produces scattered approaches with limited successful outcomes.

The most recent survey of homeless individuals conducted January 29, 2014 revealed 958 homeless adults with no dependants, 70 of which were completely unsheltered, and an additional 130 homeless adults who also had dependent children with them. 208 of these homeless adults are chronically homeless (HUD’s 2014 Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs, Populations, and Subpopulations, 2014).Wayside Christian Mission reaches approximately 7,000 homeless individuals annually (Wayside Christian Mission, 2007). In the Journal of General Internal Medicine, a majority of homeless individuals surveyed stated that they felt discriminated against or that they received lesser care because of their poverty or homelessness (Wen, Hudak, & Hwang, 2007). Homeless and impoverished individuals suffer from high rates of depression, psychiatric illness, alcohol and or substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, TB, Trauma, preterm birth, COPD, low birth weight, musculoskeletal problems, decreased access to care, foot problems, malnutrition, and high Emergency Room utilization (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). Not only do homeless persons have a high rate of illness, but they are also less able to appropriately treat health problems. Many homeless individuals have limited access to care, cannot afford medications or nutritious food, and may have difficulty with managing a strict

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 cost of housing is on the rise and many become homeless because they that are not making enough money to afford the cost of housing. The cost of health care and insurance has risen dramatically over the past years. For families living low or middle incomes that can be devastating. Families or individuals that lack health insurance, a sudden illness, chronic disease or accident can be financially devastating. Many people don’t understand the problems homeless families are facing and most families are homeless because of finical situations or because

A letter to hospital administration, to be determined after some research on who may be the most receptive. The program includes highlighting the issue of homelessness, mental health concerns and the consequences of their use of the emergency room services. The creation of homeless services to be able to obtain non-medical essential services without having to claim an illness to receive food, shelter or other basic needs. Allowing the homeless to receive food, warmth or other requirements without tying up vital medical personnel with false complaints to gain access to address their nonmedical needs. The request to present a plan of action with data and research to all parties of interest and who could be of assistance.

One of the simplest pieces of knowledge we acquire in elementary school (for future growth and development) are the three basic needs a living organism requires for living: food, water, and shelter. However, not everyone has access to all of these essentials. Homeless people are faced with awful conditions and suffer more due to poor weather conditions, diseases, and lack of safety. There hasn’t been much progress on this issue, and if this continues, the number of homeless people will only increase. In a few states the topic is being named as a “statewide emergency”, but unfortunately this problem is national. Instead of focusing on state programs, local programs and non-profit organizations to fix the housing issue, we must all contribute to ending this epidemic. The National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) released an article stating, “In January 2015, 564,708 people were homeless on a given night in the United States” (Snapshot of Homelessness). We must develop a solution to end long term homelessness immediately. The best way of solving this issue is to provide stable long-term housing, which is a term used to describe the home’s environment and financial status.

Homeless people in Allegheny County, PA are a vulnerable population that needs addressed. Homeless populations consist of individuals, families and veterans who struggle with obtaining the basic needs of life, that many take for granted. A shortage of affordable housing, not enough income to meet basic needs and inefficient support services all contribute to homelessness in the communities (In Nies & In McEwen, 2015, p. 433). Services, help, and resources are available in this county, but getting this vulnerable subset of the population to seek this help, are difficult.

It goes without saying, regarding any homeless population, that any medical services brought to them will yield a positive health outcome. It is predicted that an MMU in Burbank for the homeless, will treat small medical events, diagnose new cases and treat existing conditions of chronic, communicable, ad acute diseases, along with making referrals to specialists and housing authorities. These types of services have an overall impact, in that they decrease emergency room and hospitalization rates, as well as the financial burden on the community. The partnerships that are forming to facilitate these services increase the longevity and sustainability of the community, while homeless individuals become more health literate, along with developing trust in their MMU staff and community.

California streets are overwhelmed day-to-day by the homeless population, yet city and county services are limited and the issue continues on. To address the problem of homelessness in California, city and county leaders have collaborated and proposed future plans across the region. The city council recently approved a plan that involves the creation of services and programs to those who are homeless, but realizes the budget for funding these plans are not available at hand. The effort to solve the homelessness problem is not within the plans of strategies; however funding these strategies is the solution to making these plans a reality. Focusing on the issue, the city and county leaders have different roles that each are responsible for and the funds needed for these plans exceeds over $1.85 billion over the next ten years and currently about $30 million is already spent on strategies to reduce the homeless population.

The youngest generation today is the fastest growing population of homeless in America with modest estimates reporting 1.35 million children every year without a safe and permanent home. (Shepard. J, 2000) To this day, this social problem has undergone viral. The number of homeless people, including children and seniors has increased drastically. This article starts with a clear definition of homelessness and it leads to get a better understanding as a whole. Few of the problems causing homelessness are lack of education, shelter and public assistance. Everything as far as cost has gone higher making the costs impossible for homeless people to support themselves especially children. To address and control homelessness, the McKinney-Vento

needs to be available to have success in reducing the homeless rate in my community. The confusion of

Throughout history there has always been a portion of society living in disadvantaged conditions. With the current high cost of living, global issues, unemployment rate on the rise, and low wages, many Americans are finding themselves homeless. One would think that in this advanced century, there would not be individuals living without the basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter. Unfortunately, there are millions of people with nowhere to sleep. Besides the many problems homeless people face daily, one of the leading problems is health care. Being homeless with limited access to health care or shelter in conjunction with mental illness or exposure to harmful diseases can lead to poor health, or

Many public policies have been done to reduce the number of the homelessness and to help out those to rebound back to the normal life. Most policies focus on ending homelessness. Programs such as Continuum of Care Program (CoC) which is helping homeless people move into traditional housing, Emergency Solutions Grants Program (ESG) which is regaining stability in permanent housing, Rural Housing Stability Assistance Program (RHSP) which is stabilizing the individuals and who with risk of losing housing, and Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program which is assisting and preventing the homelessness. These efforts actually bring the decreasing result. According to the National Alliance to End homelessness, "Between 2005 and 2008, chronic homelessness in Wichita/Sedgwick County (KS) decreased by 61 percent. From 2006 to 2008, Norfolk (VA) reduced homelessness by 25 percent. From 2005 to 2007, homelessness among families in Chicago (IL) decreased by 23 percent. The number of families in shelter in Westchester County (NY) declined by 57 percent. From 2005 to 2008, chronic homelessness declined by 50 percent in Quincy (MA)” (“What Can We Do about Homelessness?”). Although the number of homelessness is decreased in some states, the reality does not change. There are many people still out there on the sidewalk. Is it possible to remove all homeless people out from the street? There are many plans and programs existed to reduce the number and to prevent it to be happened;

This case study is based on an Nicholas E. Davies award of excellence the(NYCHP) New York Children's Health Project , a program of The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, provides homeless children and families across New York City with access to mobile medical and dental teams as well as primary care clinics in city shelters and at its hub site that is located at the Bronx in New York City they have a total of 13 sites and they have an roughly annual count of patients 12,000 or better that attend that clinic on a yearly basis. They have services for Women's Health, Adult Medicine, Pediatrics, Mental Health, Radiology, Pharmacy, and for emergency visits they also have the urgent care those services are provided through referrals or partners there is also other services that the homeless families can provide and benefit from and also the staff is very helpful with the patients that come on broad it also brings all inclusive , high-quality primary health care aid to homeless, medically underserved and harshly disadvantaged children and families, providing them with a complete medical home on a once or a twice a week schedule. Over the decades the homeless family has increase in a highly rate on a detracting level at that time NYCHP has become one of the largest providers that has been desperately helping out with the needs of the homeless families that were residing in shelters. The