Homeless In San Francisco

Homeless is not just an issue in the city of San Diego but throughout the entire country. An unimaginable situation that happens to countless people all across America. According to Social Solutions, “Over 564,708 people in the U.S. are homeless...over half a million people were living on the streets, in cars, in homeless shelters, or in subsidized transitional housing during a one-night national survey last January. Of that number, 206,286 were people in families, 358,422 were individuals, and a quarter of the entire group were children” (2016’s Shocking). Clearly, homelessness is a major problem that affected over half a million people just last year. Most

     Here in Tahoe, we are lucky enough to experience a great quality of life, and only a few have to face the horrible life of poverty and homelessness. However, nationwide, even right outside the basin, homelessness is a growing epidemic across the country. There are many ways one can become homeless; for the most part poverty. There are also different concentrations of homeless in different types of terrain, such as urban or suburban areas. Last, there is the ever- growing homeless population, and how much money it costs us for others to live in poverty. These are the questions we ask ourselves about homelessness, and the only way we can help is to know the facts about this lingering

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

When walking down the streets of Los Angeles, people will often encounter homelessness. Homelessness is currently considered a major problem in Los Angeles. Since 2013 homeless population in Los Angeles has increased by 12 percent. According to SCANPH (Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing), Los Angeles has the highest street homeless population in the nation. There are about 26,000 homeless people in the city of Los Angeles, and about 44,300 homeless people in the Los Angeles County; about 75 percent of these homeless are individuals, 17 percent are families, and 8 percent are minors. People can become homeless for different reasons, such as illnesses, domestic violence, physical disability, mental disability, and etc.

The United States of America is the place known to many as the land of the free, home of the brave, and the place to start a better life. With any place that has good qualities, some have not so good qualities. The homeless population in the United States is at a staggering high, and many individuals are suffering because many lack employment/financial resources, housing resources, support from family and friends, and others negligence; such as natural disasters or fires. Homeless individuals may have no other choice than to live on the streets, trains, and alley ways to name a few places where homeless people seek shelter. The history of homelessness, social problems, demographics, common clinical

Homelessness is a major problem facing many cities. Some people are homeless because of unfortunate situations, and others are homeless by choice. Homelessness has been around since 1640.

      This is my third year living in San Francisco, I’ve been traveling to different cities and the homelessness is a serious issue that I concerned about. Especially the homeless problem in San Francisco is serious than other cities that I visited. According to the Data Shows San Francisco Has Second Highest Homeless Population in United States by Kristen Sze published on ABC7news, there are 795 people per 100,000 residents in San Francisco are homeless, and ranks to second to New York in homelessness.

There are varying estimates regarding the number of homeless people in America. According to reports from NLCHP the number of homeless people in America is 3 million which include 1.3 million children. ("Homelessness and Poverty, Overview," 1). As I am living in the state of California so I want you to take notice of the homelessness in this state. Estimates reveal that there are 4,400 to 8,800 homeless people in Foresno County (Della-Piana, 2006). The other areas like San Joaquin County has 2,700 people homeless (Farrow, 2009) and in Sacramento County there are similar number of homeless individuals. The situation has become worse due to financial crisis and financial conditions of foreclosures and layoffs. Other reasons are shortage of cheap housing and increase in inner city drug culture due to which homelessness increased in California's Central Valley.

The rate of homelessness in California is quite higher than other states. A homeless is defined as a person “sleeping outside or in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program” (The State of Homelessness in America, 2015). Twenty two percent of California residents are homeless coming out to 136,826, there were 91272 unsheltered and 66.7 are homeless and unsheltered, in an overall population of 38.8 million. That quiet high compared to other places like New York that are at 13%, Florida at 8%, Texas at 5% and Massachusetts at three percent. Los Angeles is amongst one of the largest cities in California with the second highest rate of homeless with 53798 people, San Diego ranked fourth with 8879 residents, San Francisco ranked 7 with

The lack of house affordability might be one of the major problem that could also contribute to high numbers of homeless people in this country. Many young people today do not have the money for a down payment or can't afford to buy somewhere. The whole concept of gentrification has not been applied the way it should and since that happens it creates more obstacles for the ones that cannot afford a high rent, or house payment. in other words it does not allow people to save money and to invest it correctly. That is why debt rates are really high specially with young people. According to Dr. Housing Bubble, " In Los Angeles your typical 22 to 34 year old is spending close to half of their income on rent. This is higher than many of the cities on the list. While cities like Dallas and Houston allow young workers to spend about a third of their income on rent thus allowing them to save for a down payment on a home"(Dr. Housing,2015). If there were more opportunities for people to afford homes, that would make a large difference in the current status of homelessness and low income families in this country and a lot of people would not oppose gentrification. It would really help, if the landowners, investors, and hipsters thought about each other instead of focusing just in making profit.

There are many causes that cause homelessness. These causes are unemployment, lack of affordable housing, and poverty. One of the biggest causes of homelessness ismany New Yorkers being unemployed. When one is unemployed the tend to lose everything they have. For example, if a person was to become unemployed and had a house or car, they'll eventually lose the car or the house and become homeless without the job. The second big cause is the lack of affordable housing. Many New Yorkers know the struggle of not finding affordable housing. While living in New York many people come across housing that they can't afford being that rent is increasing as more buildings are being made and people from other countries move into New York. The last but not least big cause is poverty.those who are dealing with poverty are families that are hanging on a thread. Families who are living in poverty are also extremely poor families. These families struggle to keep

Job loss is another large contributor to the increase in homelessness. I think that James Temple of SF Gate in his article titled “Striving to serve growing homeless population”, describes this best when he said “The chronically homeless stand alongside the newly desperate, people whose take-home pay didn’t last, who didn’t get the hours they’d hoped for, who unexpectedly lost homes or jobs”. Massive job losses are changing homeless culture. According to the Ken Homa, Goodwill Director of Housing Services in Traverse County, MN, “There has also been a significant increase in people

Homelessness has always been a problem in major cities across the United States and even the world. This problem also affects out local community and even all of us individually. (Daily) A majority of the American people lives paycheck to paycheck, and according to statistics, we are only one or two paychecks away from becoming homeless. While there are many reasons a person or family can become homeless, a majority of those problems come from a lack of income. The job market of today is quickly dwindling and shows no signs of improvement. This market mixed with new government policies is becoming an issue for struggling American’s on the poverty line. Homelessness is becoming a vast problem

From sophomore to senior year, I volunteered at the Glide Memorial Church, an organization that helps to serve food to the low- income and homeless. I decided to volunteer at Glide because I want to give back to the community that I am part of by mitigating the issue of homelessness in San Francisco. On the first day of volunteering, I was sent to pass trays of food to people. I like volunteering there because I enjoy seeing the smiles on the people’s faces when I pass the trays to them. As I continue to volunteer, I was placed in many positions and challenged myself with different and new responsibilities. I did clear up, help people to clear up their mess and clear up the trash. I help fill in food in the trays and pass the other volunteers.

To begin with, individual conditions are major causes of homelessness, and they are quite numerous. For instance, the past of the individuals could be packed with shocking events. Some people have really hard time getting over them, and they always cause them many psychological or physical problems that may hinder their development in life. Shocking events may include loss of job or money. Research (as cited in Gowan, 2010) shows that 22.61% of homeless people are not working seriously to earn enough money. In addition, personal crises, whether social or economic have a huge impact on the individual’s present situation. If someone faces bankruptcy they have a higher chance of facing homelessness in the future. Also, mental illness