Essay on Homeless in America

     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

Mental illness has played a pretty big role on homeless people and families. Researchers have said that most homeless people across the United States suffer from a mental illness. In the book The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls, there were multiple signs of mental illness within the author's parents. Homelessness can be caused by many reasons, but one of the main reasons for homelessness is mental illness. It is very likely that a person could have a mental illness before becoming homeless.

Luckily, only 5-7% of the mentally ill have to be institutionalized(5), and most of them can find community programs and housing to help their conditions. Other factors can be domestic violence. Many women have to choose between abusive relationships or homelessness, and nearly 25% of single homeless women said they became homeless because of an abusive relationship in their previous place of residence.(1) Health care afford ability is a minor reason for homelessness, but a reason none-the-less. More than half of people living in poverty or homelessness had no health care of any kind.(1) The reason for homelessness is an easy question to answer, how many homeless there are in the United States is a harder one.

One of the leading contributing factors in homelessness is mental illness. In many cases, before people become homeless, a mental illness disorder has occurred, which might result in loss of employment. In the United States, between 20 and 25 percent of homeless people are suffering from mental illness (Quigley). Mental illness was the cause of David Pirtle from Phoenix, Arizona, becoming homeless. He was working as a restaurant manager before he began to suffer from schizophrenia disorder. Because of his disorder, he was unable to retain a job. For over a year, Pirtle lived on the streets in Washington, DC. To survive everyday life he resorted to shoplifting among other things. Ultimately, he says that shoplifting led to his arrest and placement in a

Their health gets adverse from time to time because they lack attention from people such as friends, relatives, and doctors. And because of lack of necessities they suffer from different diseases such as, skin diseases, insomnia, disability, mental illness and HIV/AIDS. Adults who had been homeless in the last 10 years were much more likely to report having a disability or long-term health condition (64%) compared with those who had never been homeless (37%). People who had a disability or long-term health condition and had been homeless in the last 10 years were four times as likely to report that they had a disability type or restriction which was psychological (22% compared with 5%)

30 to 40 percent of single chronically homeless adults have a mental illness (Culhane). The majority of the mentally ill homeless population consist of those who struggle with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or manic-depression (Torrey). There are about 250,00 people living on the streets that struggle with a severe mental illness. The numbers continue to raise after the initial climb in the 1970's. More and more mentally ill are found chronically homeless each year. Many of the symptoms of mental illness inhibit people from normal day activities and relationships (Mojtabai).

Once homeless, the vicious cycle of downward social drift rapidly manifests itself. The abuse of

“We were homeless, we were not hopeless. There’s a world of difference” said Chris Gardner. More than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year. Although homelessness is becoming an epidemic, it is a highly ignored and marginalized issue. Some of the factors that contribute to homelessness include the lack of affordable housing, health care, available public assistance, and employment opportunities. Domestic violence, addiction, and mental illness are also some of these factors.

According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it is imperative that a persons physiological needs are met first and foremost. These basic needs include essentials such as food, water, clothing and shelter. If these are not met, other needs such as safety, security, belonging, and esteem are unattainable. These hierarchy of needs are not excluded from those who suffer from mental illnesses. Many North American cities are facing an increasing problem with homelessness. Unfortunately nearly one-third of homeless people in the US have severe mental illness (Stuart, 2009, p. 633). These include illnesses such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and/or bipolar affective disorder (Stergiopoulos, et al., 2008, p. 62). Consequently, homeless

A large number of homeless people did not intentionally put themselves in the position that eventually led into homelessness; some were evicted from their homes, or they were mentally and physically sick and unable to hold employment to provide for themselves. In tThe article, “Homeless Research, Services and Social Policy” described many causes of how people become homeless. It states in the article that the common factors that lead to homelessness are health, social, economic, and housing issues (1). It also states that a vast number of homeless people are women and children (1).

In the complex society of this day and age, homelessness is an ever growing epidemic; People can become homeless for many reasons: losing a job, addiction to drugs and mental illness. People drive or walk past a homeless person every day without thinking ever about the predicament of that individual or they may even unintentionally turn their heads the other way in repulsion. Homelessness can be defined as an individual or a family whose has a main nighttime dwelling that is a public or private place not designed for or normally used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground, doorway or alley sidewalk. Any given night in Portland there can be upwards of 4000 people sleeping on the streets in homeless camps, shelters, or under the bridges, this report looks at the direct correlation between homelessness, the disease of drug addiction, and mental illness, And will try to address ways to help decrease and prevent it from increasing.

Homelessness is a widespread epidemic throughout the United States. This epidemic doesn’t limit itself to the stereotypes such as race, religion, or financial status. According to Sweets (2011), “there are more than 3.5 million homeless Americans each year within the United States”. Many of these individuals are victims of life-altering events. Homelessness is a solvable problem with the right resources, programs, and funding in place. Some effective ways to address the problem of homelessness are to create affordable housing programs, provide excellent quality health care along with rehabilitation and job training.

Poor health is both a cause and a result of homelessness. Many people are reduced to homelessness because of poor health, which can rapidly escalate

-Many homeless individuals, especially the young, have fallen victim to a complex mesh of social, economic and mental disadvantages. In 2009, a study by social researchers in Melbourne's RMIT showed that 30% of homeless people suffered from a mental disorder.

However, there are a large number of predisposing causes, some of which were touched upon before. Outside of financial troubles, stemming from any number of root causes on its own, mental and physical illness together combined for just above 42% of what the homeless Bostonians said was their cause of homelessness. Mental illness in particular, reported by 24.4% of those interviewed, is a very common cause of homelessness worldwide. According to the American Psychological Association, rates of mental illness among the homeless in the United States are twice the rate found in the general population (APA, 2010). As well, homeless people have far higher rates of disease, including tuberculosis, hypertension, asthma diabetes, and