Ending Homelessness in America

The United States has over 3.5 million homeless people a year. If the United States stopped supporting other nations food related issues, then they could start focusing on its own starving people. Once the U.S. starts focusing on its own people, then there could be many solutions to the well-known problem of homeless people in America. Who makes up the 3.5 million homeless people, a year, in America?

Homelessness is basically another form of poverty except more extreme, yet society treats it as if it was on another spectrum of problems. Some in society stigmatize this population by saying things like: they’re homeless because they are drug addicts, alcoholics, they don’t want to work and just live off the government for free. What many forget to think about are the factors that have these people on the street, or the fact that they are not only experiencing personal hardship by being without a permanent residence but emotional ones as well. Add the fact they are sometimes discriminated against and excluded by society, and you will realize you are looking at one of the most vulnerable populations.

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.

Homelessness is a serious problem in our society. Every night in our nation thousands of people are on the streets. This type of behavior is considered deviant because it does not reflect the norms and values of our society. In many cases the homeless people in our country are treated as total outcasts. Many of these people have severe mental disorders. Some are victims of an economy that has failed them. One may ask how such harsh situations exist in such an advanced society. With all the money and programs created to help people it seems ridiculous that this behavior exists. In a society where people have so much how is it possible that there are still people that have so little. The homeless are humans, no different than anyone else.

Surviving homelessness is a struggle. With people walking by you when, you ask for money or help, sleeping in the hot or cold, not eating for days. Going back Janacek, he stated that everyday the shelter workers, would send him and every other person that was staying there to the streets. Even if you find a shelter to stay at while homeless, it is not a guarantee that you will stay there until you find a job, or home. There are about 5,253 homeless people in the city of Toronto (estimated in 2013), and there are only 41 shelters as of 2015. So no everyone will be able to stay multiple or even one day at a shelter. Not only this, homeless people have a more difficult time finding a job according to the huffington post. In the article written by christine schanes, it states that to get a job “people must be clean and wear clean clothing”. So if a person doesn’t have access to a shower, toilet or anything that keep us clean, how does society expect them to get a job? So the next time a homeless person asks you for money, or anything, try putting yourself in their

Homelessness has been a problem in the U.S for over 80 years and it remains a problem today. There are over 225 homeless people in the Athens area, and society can help the homeless by improving their lives by providing simplicities. The homeless cannot properly take care of themselves because they are not provided the tools to.

Imagine feeling invisible not knowing what to do or where to go. Imagine spending each night waiting in long lines to get a warm place to sleep for the night just to be turned down because all the beds are taken, or finding a place to set up a tent to have the police come and tell you that you must leave yet not giving you an alternative place to go. Homelessness is an extremely disturbing social issue that affects the lives of many Americans, and is becoming more and more noticeable in places like San Francisco and Oakland. Before Reagan took office and destroyed Americans safety net by slashing the budget on social services and before the tech boom that hit San Francisco, you could make a minimum wage and afford to live here.

Could you imagine yourself and your family homeless? Living out on the street not knowing when and where are you going to get your next meal or where are you going to sleep for the night if the homeless shelter is full for the night. Being homeless can be a scary and frighten thing to go through especially as a child because you are around people who you nothing about, it’s dangerous, unhealthy, and unsanitary. This is a very important issue to me because this issue really affects the kids because it can affect their schooling cause them to fail or eventually drop out, could have behavioral health problems, and they could probably get separated from their families which is very dangerous. According to The National Alliance to End Homelessness

There are so many people homeless that it leads to poverty. Poverty plays a big role in homelessness, because it’s the simple fact that there are people out there struggling, starving, some even near death, and people have the nerve to say it’s a lifestyle, it is a unhealthy lifestyle, and I know that the middle class and wealthy high class citizens of America would never want to be in a homeless person’s shoes. Homelessness is in fact caused by depression, someone can just lose a loved one and completely lose all type of humanity. “ People living in poverty or close to the poverty line and everyday life issues that may be manageable for individuals with a higher income can be the final factor in placing them on the street”. ( Homaid 1).

According to Dan brown, award winning journalists, article illustrates that many children in america are becoming homeless, being placed in foster homes and living in violent environments. This upsets a large amount of people because many children are experiencing things that adults would learn later on in life.The plans that should be done to prevent this disaster from happening is that there should be more focus on funding facilities that help kids and their parents to get back on their feet again. Dan Brown had said that children are living in violent homes, maybe the funding could somehow benefit the facilities to do get these kids off of the streets, another idea is to educate the parents on how to get a job, how to parent and how

I have always had strong religious and political beliefs. I believe that this comes from being raised by my parents and my grandparents. My grandfather took care of me when I was born until I went to school. He is a staunch conservative and is very outspoken about his beliefs and political opinions. Both of my parents and all of my grandparents are very hard working Americans. I am proud to come from a family of hard workers. I think this influenced how I have always felt about homeless people and people that are on welfare. I have always seen my family go to work every day, save money, and spend their money wisely. This is why I believe that I felt like people that were homeless or on welfare were lazy. It always made me mad when I was at the store and people that were spending welfare money seemed to have better groceries than we did. And if I saw people on television that were homeless I always felt like they were just too lazy to get a job. As I've gotten a little older, and hopefully a little more mature, I have come to realize that sometimes there are actually people that need a little help now and

Howell (April 23, 2014) thinks Mayor Gregor Robertson’s promise to end “street homeless” by 2015 appears to be failing. Street homeless almost double from last year to 538 people. Culbert ( June 7th , 2015) wrote on Vancouver sun about the homeless number in Vancouver dropping slightly. The number in homeless people dropped to 488 from last year’s 536, those results are still not what Mayor Gregor Robertson hoped for. The people that have been homeless for many years have found shelters, but today, majority of homeless people are youth. The city and its partners invested in 615 new room, 458 of them are specifically for homeless people. Lupick ( July 7th,2015) have noticed a small drop in homeless people, from 536 in 2014 to 488 in 2015. The

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.

There are many homeless people out on the streets of this great nation. Ten years ago, nobody would have expected that America would be this far in the slumps. Rather than feeling lucky to have a playground to play on at a great school, children are now lucky to have just one of their two parents working for minimum wage. With the average unemployment rate hovering above seven percent over the last eight years, America’s youth are growing up in a world where dreams no longer come true and are taught to aspire to be a waiter or grocery store clerk for life.

     Homelessness as an issue in today's society is largely ignored. To many, the problem of homelessness is invisible or barely noticed. When these people do see the homeless it is found in the form of beggars who need to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” or mentally ill people who “just can't help themselves”. In either case the central point remains; the homeless must be people who are incapable or unwilling to help themselves. After all, wouldn't they stop being homeless if they just tried? These sorts of rationalizations cover a more disturbing truth; that for many in today's society, the spectre of homelessness is more pressing of a problem than helping those who are already on the