Exploring The Cause Of Homelessness In America

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.

The word homelessness can have many meanings in today’s society because the word home can be taken vague. Some individuals might be taking shelter in a cardboard box or even underneath a park bench, while others travel from shelter to shelter to keep a roof over their head. In the United States the Federal Definition of Homelessness is referred to as people who include: anyone who does not have a fixed night-time resident that is adequate for their needs, and those individuals who live temporarily in an institution or anywhere that has not been created as a place for a human to sleep (Homelessness and Substance Abuse, 2014). It is estimated that 3.5 million people in the United States are homeless, which shows that 1 percent of the population is homeless and 1.5 million are children (Homelessness and Substance Abuse, 2014). The list of reasons for individuals becoming homeless is a continuous list, but some of the causes include: poverty, divorce or other relationship breakdowns, no local affordable housing, escaping an abusive house, unemployment, and debt problems (Homelessness and Substance Abuse, 2014). Although there are many causes for homelessness the leading cause is due to alcohol and drug abuse.

Mahatma Gandhi, the civil rights leader, once said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Ever since the 1900’s, people and the world’s problems have increased since. We’ve gone from wars to assassinations, natural disasters to racism, and from more wars to even more racism. And that’s just in America. Even now, problems still exist, and continue to increase throughout the years. Many people are trying to stop some issues, however not enough people care. Due to worrying about their own safety and social status, rather than helping others that are in the midst of danger and even death. There are many changes needed in this world, but I have two matters I’d like to specifically address.

Homelessness in the United States can be ended, not just maintained. Allot of cities now have plans to eradicate homelessness. Homelessness and housing instability are large issues that afflict a diverse demographic such as: Families, youth, veterans, and chronically homeless single male adults. Ending homelessness may require specialized solutions that are specific to individual needs. Factors like these make defeating homelessness a difficult task. Although solutions exist for some of the demographics, such as housing for chronically homeless adults, scaling up best practices remains a challenge. For other subpopulations, such as transitional aged youth, evidence-based interventions need to be developed. In this paper we argue that ending homelessness is a Grand Challenge that is big, important, and compelling—one that the profession of social work should be adopt. Meeting this challenge will require a focused, organized response from social work researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Ending homelessness will require innovation and interdisciplinary or cross-sector collaboration. Key words: Housing First, Permanent Supportive Housing, rapid re-housing, prevention, poverty. The notion that homelessness in the United States can be ended, rather than managed (Mangano, 2002; National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2012), represents a fundamental shift in expectations from the 1980s and ’90s. Since the early 2000s, researchers, policymakers, advocates,

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?

Homelessness in the United States is a serious problem that can be helped by giving homeless people opportunities to thrive in better conditions and/or communities. Although getting them off the streets is a huge step in the right direction, other actions need to be taken. Making sure they have somebody in their corner is a huge step in that process. There are 1,750,000 homeless people on the streets at this very moment. 1 in 30 children in the US, 40% of the homeless population are also Veterans. Some people wonder how someone even becomes homeless, there are multiple reasons, such as physical or mental impairments, living in poverty, and tragic life occurrences.

I decided to focus this paper on what we discussed last class about homeless people in America and how we are all affected by this issue in our country no matter, if we want to notice it or not.

When I see someone experiencing homelessness, I questioned what led them to be homelessness. I questioned how come the most of country in the world have people experiencing homelessness. I remembered walking around downtown last summer, I was admiring how beautiful the city of Chicago is with its giant buildings, but when I noticed homeless people sleeping outside those buildings just made me question why people are sleeping outside those buildings. I thought it was just unfair in that purpose.

According to reporter Angelo Vargas who wrote in Krgv News “Homeless Decrease Nationwide, Many Coming to the Valley”, he stated that many homeless people are coming down to the Valley to live. This can be proven as you see many homeless people roaming the streets every day. People such as Jessie Cutgrass and Gerardo Rico have fallen victim and said that that they are coming here to have a better life. Homelessness is increasing in the Valley and The Hidalgo County is the seventh poorest county in the State of Texas.

Homelessness is a very big issue in the United States today. Homeless people are living on dirty streets, crowded sidewalks, under bridges, on benches, in tents, and many more grimy places. These places are not fit for any person to live in and still these people call it their “home”. Through freezing winters and blazing hot summers, homeless people seem to face it all. The conditions the homeless face are brutal because they spend days in the blazing heat, months in the freezing cold, and years in their filthy “home”.

In January 2015 there were 564,708 homeless in the US. They were all sleeping in the streets, emergency shelter or transitional housing. This paper is about why and what we should and could do to help the homeless.

Usually the government wants the best for the people of its nation, and provides for their needs. Shockingly, this is not the case in Yemen, where families with young children are left to defend themselves. Specifically homosexual men are being targeted by their own nation, and terrorist groups. The conflict in Yemen is in the most dire of situations as innocent people are dying, becoming homeless, and getting arrested. This is an urgent problem because many innocent people are being victimized in Yemen, and have nobody on their side.

Homelessness has become a serious problem in today’s society. Despite the organizations that help multitudes of homeless people, homelessness is continually increasing. In recent years, America’s culture has been changing due to economic, political, and social issues. These issues have caused a lot of stress on America resulting in abject poverty in several cities. Poverty is not nationwide, but if dealt with lightly, the affects can be catastrophic. Homelessness is increasing more than ever, and research proves that changing culture contributes to rising amount of homelessness.

As many as 3.5 million Americans are considered homeless each year. Often, people believe that homelessness is a complication only caused by the poor choices of a single person when they are typically the result of multiple uncontrollable factors. For some, the line between being homeless and not can be very thin, with several obstacles preventing stability. These individuals and families commonly come from more deprived areas. Those who are homeless can be very different to each other in how and why they came to be in their situation, but they all have in common their desire to find a way back to a normal and healthy lifestyle. Homelessness is an issue created by poor physical and mental health, a lack of money, and relationship complications.