Homeless Persuasive Essay

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.

“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

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

Three thousand, and eight hundred men, women, and children sleep on the cold streets of Portland Oregon. Homelessness has gone down 17% happily but went up another 10% the next year.

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)

Homelessness is a nationwide problem, it has brought tremendous attention to how the issue of homelessness is viewed and dealt with in today’s society. The lack of a solution should be a great concern; society needs to rise up and implement a plan to combat the issue of homelessness. Due to a decrease of affordable housing; lack of job training, along with low wages, and limited mental health and addiction services, the epidemic of homelessness is increasing in the United States. Communities and activist groups must come together and work with nonprofits and government programs to alleviate the homelessness epidemic. There are not enough resources available to deal with mentally ill and drug addicted individuals. Therefore, society has adopted a community and social activist groups to help combat the problems of homelessness.

Everyday we come across homeless people on the streets of our cities blocking roadways, doorways, and alleys everywhere we go. Whether they be dumpster diving for food or something of value or on street corners begging for change with open hands, they are everywhere no matter where we turn to look. With the low unemployment rate of 6.6 percent in Canada along with jobs being created and offered left and right, people do not understand why there are so many homeless people in our cities. How can we deal with all these homeless people? What can we do to help them? What does the future hold for the homeless? For the percent of homeless people to start disappearing we must help house them and assist then in finding work, finding them homes and finding them the path to a better life. This will keep them busy and away from the streets of our cities to help keep a cleaner and happier community. But is this enough?

At this moment, our once strong and united community is split. Why is it split? It’s split because of a recent issue that arose, and I’m sure you’ve heard of it. You see, about a month ago, a large group of homeless people moved into our neighborhood, and set up camp. Some people believe that these homeless people should be evicted, and others think we help them. Regardless of the side you’re on, you can’t deny that this issue is killing our amazing community. I want the days of old back, where we all could enjoy the community and not have to worry about piddling matters such as this. A decision needs to be made and fast if we want to preserve our community. I have made my decision, and today I‘m going to tell you why it’s the best decision. I believe we should not only let these homeless people stay, but we should all do our

On Nov. 17, L.A city officials approved a campaign that would help the homeless this winter by allow them to sleep in vehicles and allowing openings of public buildings to be used as a shelter for them. An estimated amount of over 26,000 people around the L.A. community call the streets their home since the homeless population has multiplied all over the region. The reason for the approval of this campaign is due to Southern California being expected to be hit by severe rainstorms and possible floodings, which could mean the unsheltered residents could be at risk.

Homelessness emerged as a national issue in the 1870s. Many homeless people lived in emerging urban cities, such as New York City. Into the 20th Century, the Great Depression of the 1930s caused a devastating epidemic of poverty, hunger, and homelessness. There were two million homeless people migrating across the United States. In the 1970s, the de-institutionalization of patients from state psychiatric hospitals was a precipitating factor which seeded the homeless population. The rising in homelessness is hurting the economy in many ways, and sadly the number of homeless people and families are increasing. Many people that end up on the streets and become homeless are dealing with problems that many of us don't, they become homeless because

Another key aspect to fully comprehending the range of homelessness is knowing who, exactly, is affected by this misfortune. According to the National Alliance to end Homelessness, approximately 633,782 individuals are homeless on any given night, but who are these people? (FRONTSTEPS). In an article verified by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, it is stated that a shocking forty percent of all homeless individuals are veterans. Twenty two percent live with a severe mental illness. Another thirty six percent are families with children, and thirty percent have reported being homeless for more than two years. One widespread stereotype of the homeless is that they do not try and find work, but would rather live off of the “working man”. This stereotype is not only degrading and offensive, it is also entirely inaccurate. Forty four percent of homeless people report doing paid work in the last month. (Homelessness/Poverty). This reveals that homelessness is truly not a question of

Many solutions are presented and are currently in use by various organizations. There is help for people who need it.

Homelessness is a major issue worldwide, which appears to be growing at a rapid rate. Many unfortunate factors play a role in one becoming homeless and living on the streets with no shelter, little or no food, and lack of clothing to keep warm. Some factors that may lead to homelessness are a substantial decrease in income, loss of employment, mental issues, drug and alcohol addiction, running away from home or major life events such as a death in the family. In addition, as the homeless population grows, resources such as shelters become full and overcrowded leaving people with nowhere to sleep other than a park bench, under a bridge, on the side walk or on the side of a building. Sadly, society judges those in these predicaments, many fail to listen to the stories of homeless individuals or attempt to understand why and what they’re going through. Furthermore, much of society continues to go through life as if the homeless population doesn’t exist, doing little or nothing at all to help them in any way possible. Although homelessness is a much larger issue than myself, I felt the need to do my part in helping the homeless in whichever way achievable. Therefore, for my public project, I decided to do what was necessary to provide homeless individuals, that are without shelter, with coats and blankets to keep warm during the winter months. To make this happen, I thought of a plan to put into action to accomplish the goal. I built a team of likeminded individuals that would help do the necessary work to accomplish the set goal, we collectively worked together as a group to implement and follow a plan and moved forward to execute it.

Homelessness is a problem many face today and it greatly affects the whole world. Today, there are millions of people who sleep on the sidewalks at night, and beg for money. Someone who is homeless, doesn't have a legal home or residence to reside at. This is a problem that the world faces and will continue to face for many years to come.

Ever since I was a kid, I always asked myself how would it feel like to be homeless. I never really understood back then how these people became homeless in the first place, but as I got older I understood why and how it can happen to anyone in a blink of an eye. Making bad decisions, hanging around the wrong crowd, getting addicted to drugs, being lazy, or just not having anyone around you to motivate you or push you. But for the most part you just don’t know what people have gone through in their life’s to end up being homeless. So I decided to try to be in their shoes for one day (literally) and see how that would turn out. I wouldn’t take this experiment that far like living outside or anything, but to a certain extent. I’d be too scared to sleep outside and be away from my house.