Five Myths About America

“One diverse population that has continued to increase over the quarter of a century is composed of people who are homeless” (Baggerly & Zalaquett, 2006, p.155). Homelessness has become a growing problem in society because more and more people are finding themselves to be homeless and not knowing where to turn. Many people do not

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

Homelessness in the United States is a multifaceted problem, there are many factors to consider when examining this homelessness including access to health care, economic conditions and public policy as well as a host of other issues. Problems with homelessness that need addressed are the stigmatizations of being homeless and how this perception has led to anti-homeless policies, how reforming anti-homeless policies can lead to shifting society’s perception of the issue of homelessness, and finally why social workers must be at the forefront of the campaign to facilitate meaningful change to reduce the human suffering

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 issue of homelessness has been called as one that is "highly ambiguous and intangible" (Neale, 1997, p.7). Wright defines the homeless a "diverse, heterogeneous lot. No single catch phrase or easy myth can possibly describe them all" (p.46)

In the United States the homeless population continues to grow rapidly. Homelessness has been a public health issue for many decades. Often times these individuals feel as though society has turned a blind eye to them. This at risk population is seen by society as lazy or chose to live a life on the streets, but if one would examine this population closely would see that there is more to this at risk population than what society has labeled them as. The forces, which affect homelessness, are multifaceted. Social forces such as family breakdown, addictions, and mental illnesses are in combined with structural forces such as lack of low-cost housing, insufficient health services, and poor economic conditions. Many would

Homelessness has become an evolving epidemic of our time, and the health implications associated with being homeless makes it that much worse. Homeless people are at major risk for premature death and a wide range of health problems such as HIV, skin blemishes, and much more. It is very difficult for homeless people to fix their health issues due to the difficulty of accessing health care possibly because of missing health cards, or simply because of the stigma placed on them when they enter a public facility. Whatever the problem may be that is forcing more people to become homeless, it must be solved, and quickly before our world turns into a travesty.

Homelessness is a difficult situation to completely eliminate in our society, but getting innocent people off the streets is our duty as members of the society. I believe we should spend more funding on shelters. Shelters provide a variety of services including meals, shelter, and social and health services. This is a crucial step for helping homeless people get back on their feet.

Homelessness results from the failure of our system to provide adequate safeguards and economic opportunities to those in society who need them the most. There are no federal benefit programs for those experiencing long-term homelessness until they reach the age of 65—or, in some cases, 62. Federal housing and employment programs for low-income people can be difficult to access for those experiencing homelessness, especially without the support of dedicated and knowledgeable homeless service providers. Short-term interventions provide important relief to individuals and families, but robust, long-term workforce solutions are needed to accomplish the goal of permanently ending homelessness.

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,

Homelessness can be defined as the lack of a permanent, safe and affordable night-time residence. The exact statistics on homelessness are difficult to ascertain, as the precise number of people who experience homelessness is ever changing. Recently it's been estimated that about 1.6 million are people living in emergency shelters or transitional housing. The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (2012) estimated the annual homeless population to be roughly 3.5 million people. Of these 1.35 million are children. The fastest growing segment of the homeless population is families with children.

“Los Angeles County is the homeless capital of the USA, with at least 88,000 homeless in 2005 (Reese, Deverteuil, & Thach, 2010).” The reason for the high number of homeless is the lack of income, a drop in non-existent welfare support and not enough affordable housing, as a result has people into homelessness. The rent in California is high with a studio apartment running an average $843 per month, which is not within the affordable rent for a minimum wage earner nor a recipient of Supplemental Security Income. According to Reese et al. (2010), a majority of the homeless are in the older, diverse urban neighborhoods where homeless services have a habit of gathering. As a result of low-income living in one area, the degree of mental disabilities and substance misuse are roughly twice as high among the homeless compared to the entire County.

The homeless population in the U.S. does not only consider the humans out on the streets, but also the ones in emergency shelters, transitional housing, in cars, and more. Over six-hundred thousand individuals are currently homeless in the United States. In our current society, people often become homeless due to circumstances beyond their control. Such as individuals that identify as LGBTQ, victims of domestic violence, and unaffordable housing throughout America. Different sets of problems and issues have arisen over time for the homeless individuals as our world continues to advance and grow day to day.

How many times have you witnessed a person standing on the side of a street or on the highway holding a sign that reads, “No job no food, please help”? Or have seen a person sleeping under the bridge due to a lack of shelter? Well, that life is the gruesome reality for many people in America- statistics have shown that “On any given night in the United States, more than half a million people experience homelessness” (National Alliance to end Homelessness). Being without adequate food and shelter is a growing trend causing more and more people to live below the poverty line. Although there are programs in place to aid the homeless, there needs to be more efforts taken to reduce the percentage of homeless Americans. Homelessness has always been a nationwide issue in America that is gradually increasing, causing an alarming rate of homelessness among teens, those with mental illnesses, and veterans.

Homelessness remains an exasperating and intricate issue that has been plaguing cities and towns well before the dawn of civilization. In a utopian world, homelessness dilemma will never cease to exist and prevail. In today’s reality, society would not be balanced if countless poverty-stricken people did not exist. Homelessness has forever been a perpetuating problem that continues to exacerbate due to public ignorance who reject the fact that homelessness is impacting the broader community. It has always been a growing epidemic that never seems to get adequate exposure. For many homeless people, it can turn into a very arduous journey to get the support they desperately need. However, in many cases, to succeed is rare. Although some homeless people willfully chose this lifestyle upon themselves, a great deal of them still deserve to be helped and accommodated considering a lot of the homeless actually do have jobs, many suffer from mental disorders and addictions, a good percentage of them are veterans, and outreach programs have been known to produce immense success.