An issue that that I find most important to me, that covers the local, national and global level is homelessness. On the local level there are currently hundreds of homeless people living in South Bend Indiana. Beyond that there are thousands more homeless in other cities in Indiana. When you take into consideration the nation, there are close to a million or so homeless people living in the United States of America. On the global level, there are millions more homeless. To tell you the truth, it is near impossible to know that true numbers because not everyone seeks shelter or help.
As for shelters, there are an inadequate number or shelters where homeless people can go.
When it comes to homeless shelters/centers, it can be a gamble for
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On a conference that was held in Washington D.C., I saw homeless people sleeping on park benches and near subway/stem vents to keep warm. This was only blocks away from the White House and in one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. You would think that you wouldn’t see things like that there, but you do. Unfortunately you see the wrong way of dealing with the homeless situation in …show more content…
Salt Lake city and New York City have gave homes to the homeless. The homes have been either fixed up to be livable in or the homeless person or family work on repairs before or during their time in the house. Seattle has actually created a tiny house village for homeless people to live and the price to live in the tiny houses are affordable compared to renting an apartment or house. I believe that this example of compassion and ingenuity should be repeated in other cities in America and possibly in other countries. Of course this would only be one drop in the bucket to combat homelessness, but it would be a start to something
When you see the homeless what do you think about? Do you see them and feel disgust or are you someone who wonders how and why they are where they are, or maybe, you are one of the few who want to help and who are able to. In the U.S., more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year and that number is growing. They are families with little children, people who are trying to escape domestic violence, people with mental illness, veterans who have served our country, and many more. From what I read in Jonathan Kozol’s “Untouchables” city officials in various places are only coming up with short term solutions, that aren’t helping the homeless. City officials are just trying to get rid of the homeless from their cities or area. I think it’s time that more individuals and groups, really gets involved and figure out a way to help those who are already homeless, and stop future people from becoming homeless. We have to come up with ways to help the homeless readjust and get back into the world.
Chicago, Illionis is good example of a large city that is facing a large problem with homelessness and the number of
Sadly though, In the United States alone 549,928 people were homeless in January 2016 (“Snapshot of Homelessness”). Even though this number is so high a lot of cities do nothing about the homelessness in their area. One reason people do not help is they believe the homeless individual caused their issue. That is not always correct, though. The most frequent cause of homelessness is property destroying disasters (Griffiths 18). With housing being the main issue it makes sense Housing First would be the most successful. Another reason people are homeless is divorce and abusive relationship (Griffiths 18). Which again show housing programs would be beneficial. It makes people wonder why more states do not start housing
In maryland a big problem that we have is the amount of people who are homeless. There are about 50 thousand homeless people in maryland and the number keeps growing. People who are homeless have to stay out in the cold in winter and face many dangers. It may be hard for them to get jobs which means things like food and clothes are extremely important for them but hard to get. There are many ways that we can help them and get them back on there feet and i think that it is extremely important we do. Simple things like donating money or even old clothes can have a huge impact of the lives of the homeless. By doing this we are setting the right example and changing our communities for the better.
Such as, unpredicted financial crisis, abuse or neglect, mental issues, and physical issues. “National Alliance to End Homelessness.” Endhomelessness.org, 2015. Mon. 16 Nov. 2015.: Families become homeless, “...as a result of some unforeseen financial crisis.” They also become homeless due to “medical emergencies, car accident, or a death in the family.” Youth and children are known for becoming homeless, “due to family conflict, divorce, neglect, or abuse.” Veterans become homeless because of, “physical disability, mental anguish, and p.t.s.d.” “National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness.” StudentsAgainstHunger.org, n.d. Mon. 16 Nov. 2015. : Another reason these groups are homeless is due to, “Economic factors: serve lack of affordable housing and Political factors: cuts in federal assistance.” How can the U.S. focus, and solve, the problem of
Homeless is taking place throughout the world. That is an issue because some people still end back on the street or never had the opportunity to get off the street. Some inviduals may still be on the street and never go the opportunity to get off the street. Each inviduals have their own story of how they became homeless. Some inviduals may have ended up homeless due to unemployment, house caught on fire, was staying with a family member who later passed away, never had money save in case of a emergency and the list goes on. The issue that relate to housing for the homeless is that it is not enough space for everyone. The programs that is available tend to be overcrowded due to so many people being homeless with nowhere to go. Another issue with housing for the homeless is the environment in some programs. The environment can be harmful and unhealthy to an inviduals and especially a homeless child. When a child is homeless, that has a effect on them growing up as far as their mentality and their skills and ability of learning.
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.
Homelessness is a serious societal problem affecting our communities. Katel of Housing the Homeless says “about 1.5 million Americans use a shelter in a given year- and advocates for the homeless say that figure badly understates the problem.” Yet, society looks down at these people, not doing anything to help them. They are judged, criticized, and bombarded by false assumptions everywhere they go. I have heard people say “they are like that because they chose to” or “they are lazy and don't want to work.” This is not true in most cases. The reality is life can go wrong at any moment for anyone. For some people there is no one there to help them and their only option is living on the streets or a shelter.
We often hear that people in our society blame the homeless for living on the streets. Society does not think it could happen to them but in reality it can happen to anyone. Society tends to forget that what the homeless have to go through with the struggles and obstacles of living on the streets. The cold temperatures, lack of clothing, sleep and food, this is not a choice someone would make.
There is no doubt that being homeless has always been a problem in America. It is a problem for everybody, no one ever wants to be deemed homeless. Recent studies reveal that being homeless has now turned into an epidemic in some cities across the country. The homeless population has increased this year for the first time since the Great Recession and I think it is utterly ridiculous when the top two prominent cities in the United States (New York City and Los Angeles) are among the top three homeless cities in the world. The increase has been so disturbing that some state governments decided to call for a state of emergency. The reason behind the homeless population increase is due to the West Coasts flourishing economy. Rent wages increased
In Philadelphia, homelessness is all around. On every street in the city, there will most likely be a homeless person asking for money or sleeping on the ground owning little to nothing. Homelessness is not only a major problem in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania but entirely the United States. There are so many people living on the streets, in abandoned houses, and even cars. The majority of homeless people are veterans, drug addicts, unemployed people, people who have a mental illness and teenagers who have ran away. The best solution to getting people off the streets and able to work, make money and living in a house or apartment that they can afford is for the state to give more money to homeless shelters and organizations. If the state of Pennsylvania gave more money to homeless shelters, the shelters would be able to open up their doors to more homeless people and help them get back on track. The shelters would also be able to build more shelters so they can eventually get all of homeless people off the streets. They would be able to hire more people to help out with their mission and teach the homeless way in a crash course of getting their life together. For the drug addicts, there would be rehab offered to the homeless and it would then eliminate not only homelessness in itself but also drugs on the streets. With such astonishing numbers, homelessness has increased within the last few years like never before. There are more homeless
There is one federally funded program in which we will talk about later that helps homeless individuals get the care they need. There is a dire need for more programs that assist the homeless because the number one reason they are homeless is because they cannot afford housing. If they cannot afford this they probably will not be able to afford the necessities to live a healthy lifestyle. When youths and adolescents succumb to homelessness they are at a greater risk, because they do not have the resources an adult would. They have a disadvantage of employment opportunities and are a greater risk of not completing high school. Youths will lack the ability to receive health care, which will create problems in their overall health because they will not be able to receive the care they need in the instance of sickness, injury or access to medicines. There are countless reasons that adults succumb to being homeless. Some are that a job was lost, mental health is prevalent among them, substance abuse and spouse abuse. Adults who are experiencing homelessness have some of the same problems that youths do as well. An adult not being able to receive health care is very serious especially for older homeless adults. Sickness and serious health problems are more prevalent in older adults resulting in untimely death and the spreading of sicknesses and diseases. I have some establishments offering free haircuts to the homeless if they are preparing for an interview. I have also
Homelessness is a very complex issue that affects the community from an economic and a social perspective. Homelessness and poverty are inevitably linked. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, healthcare and education. The primary cause of homelessness though is the lack of affordable housing and the limited scale of housing assistance programs. “Often, poor people can afford to live only in inadequate housing-housing that is unsafe or broken down in a way that degrades the life and dignity of the residents.” (Windley-Daoust, 207). The growing gap between the number of affordable housing units and the number of people needing them has created a housing crisis for the less fortunate. Operating shelters, medical services, day centers and so on cost a lot of money and generally, funding for these programs come from taxpayer dollars and private donations. Many though go unfunded and many homeless are forced to find other methods to meet their needs. Since most communities do not have enough resources to give adequate shelter to the homeless, they will be ultimately forced to find alternate places to sleep and live. This could be behind buildings, benches, doorways of businesses and this can cause pollution within public areas. According to the National
In your post you bring up a really great point, “As the reading points out we feed them and offer temporary shelter - we help support their basic needs but it seems to end there.” Based on this reading, this seems to work well for 80% of the homeless population, but not the 10% of extreme cases. Concurring with your post, this is because society is disconnected and because society judges the homeless as shameful. Case and point, while I was reading another post, I believe someone referred to the homeless as scum. Another case and point, with the upcoming nuptials of the royals, because homelessness is viewed as a disgrace and embarrassment, theirs an accretive effort underway to remove the homeless people from sight. Regardless, I believe
One of the problems at hand that not only us, in the United States have but, all around the world in different countries have, is homeless people.