Homelessness Research Paper

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.

During the Great Depression, the homeless were almost glamorized as vagabonds who rode the rails with their belongings neatly tied up in a bandana over their shoulder. Today, the homeless can be anyone: children or women escaping an abusive relationship or those who just cannot afford to pay for housing. While some homeless people maintain employment of some sort, long term homelessness is usually a function of the inverse; either severely under-employed or no income stream at all with which to pay rent and utilities. While quite a bit of academic research has shown the need to focus on societal causes of homelessness, people who are homeless seem to be increasingly perceived and treated within a paradigm of individual sickness. While

Homelessness is often accompanied by many other problems such as mental disorders, substance abuse issues, isolation from family and friends, and poor general health. Often time’s people that suffer from homelessness experience a lower quality of life than those who have a place to call home.

Homelessness as a result of deinstitutionalization in the US increased dramatically, tripling in 182 cities over the court of the 1980s (Bagenstos, 2012). In addition, mental health and substance abuse is a major problem in across the country because of homelessness. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,20 to 25% of the homeless population in the United States suffers from some form of severe mental illness (DMHAS, 2014). Consequently, mental illnesses disrupt people’s ability to carry out key aspects of daily life, such as self-care and household responsibilities. As a result of these factors and the stresses of living with a mental disorder, people with mentally illnesses are much more likely to become homeless than the general population (Karger, & Stoesz, 2014). Even if homeless individuals with mental illnesses are provided with housing, they are unlikely to achieve residential stability and remain off the streets unless they have access to continued treatment and services. In Connecticut there are a number of housing options that are in place like supportive housing. Research has shown that supported housing is effective for people with mental illnesses (DMHAS, 2014). Unfortunately, in Connecticut, lack of funding is a significant barrier to the successful implementation of supported housing programs. Because of homelessness people cycle between street corner, jail cell and hospital beds, in addition the homeless who are

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

The issue my team chose to research and tackle was homelessness in the Ozarks. Specifically, we wanted to look at the demographics of the issue and then ultimately we wanted to look into the effects the issue of homelessness is having on another serious issue, mental illness, and vice versa. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines homelessness as one having no home or permanent place of residence. It defines mental illness as any of a broad range of medical conditions that are marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, or emotions to impair normal psychological functioning and cause marked distress or disability and that are typically associated with a disruption in normal thinking, feeling, mood, behavior, interpersonal interactions, or daily functioning. Some of the examples of mental illnesses given by Merriam-Webster are major depression, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or panic disorder. The main aspects of the issue that will be covered are the current status of the issue, the causes, current organizations involved in finding solutions, and what more needs to be done.

The problems of homelessness and mental illness are inextricably intertwined. One way that mental illness impacts people's lives is that it oftentimes renders them unable to carry out the functions of daily life, such as keeping a job, paying their bills, and managing a household. In addition to disrupting the events of daily life, mental illness "may also prevent people from forming and maintaining stable relationships or cause people to misinterpret others' guidance and react irrationally" (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). What this means is that a population that is already vulnerable because of an inability to consistently manage self-care lacks the same safety net as much of the rest of society.

omelessness does not discriminate; it can affect people from all walks of life no matter sex, race, or religion. Last year alone, more than 3.5 million people experienced homelessness. Thirty five % affecting families with children and mental illness contribute to the lowest at twenty% (Students against Hunger). There are many different homeless population in between, such as military veterans, children under the age of 18, and those that have experienced domestic violence just to name a few. Homelessness is a social problem because it depletes federal funding, increases taxes, and can lead to criminal activity. The reaction to homelessness regarding the homeless is a social problem in itself. It seems that Americans view homelessness as a threat to society, an embarrassment, and sometimes one may even try to act as though the problem does not even exist. They turn their heads in shame, disgust, pity, distaste and fear.

I would like to you recognize that Homelessness should be apart of one of the isms. They are classified into their own group with their own stereotypes and perceptions that are just like sexism, racism, and the rest of the isms. I also feel that out of all the minority groups they are the most often overlooked and are subject to their own discrimination. This is all I could think about while helping at the road home. I could bore you with a step-by-step of what my group and I did but it was nothing other than opening cans of fruit and dishing cottage cheese. Although it was helpful to the others in the kitchen I feel that it is not of importance to my experience I had while there.

As a young First Nations single mother of two I had witnessed first hand the struggles, barriers and obstacles many people in the community were facing; issues such as, lack of basic housing, inadequate food, poverty, addictions, and suicides to name a few.

Homelessness is a social condition in which people live on the streets due to mental illness, drug addiction, or poverty, and is a social problem that is very unjust. On some of my family’s recent vacations to big cities like San Francisco and Chicago, I saw many homeless people trying to survive on the streets by asking for spare change. One of the most notable times I’ve seen homelessness was in Chicago. While I was there, I saw many homeless families, around 15. It was one of my first contact with homelessness and I felt awful seeing so many people in poverty. Some people were holding up dirty cardboard signs with torn clothes, while others were asking people for spare change. Many people, including myself, walked straight past them, ignoring their cries for help. I had to do something, so I did give a small donation. Hopefully, it would help in the long-run. Overall, homelessness is a condition that we should try to eliminate.

As I stated before this article talked about community of homeless people on the outskirts of Nashville. This article talks about how this community is not known by many. Most of the time homeless people like to be out of the way of everyday life. They tend to keep to themselves, and that is just what this community is doing. This community of homeless people that this article speaks about is one of the most unique homeless communities I have ever read about. They call their community Tent City. Tent City is a place that is hidden out of sight and out of mind. It spreads over an acre of landscape under a network of highway bridges along the Cumberland River on the outskirts of downtown Nashville, Tennessee. This community is almost impossible

This community has countless acts of kindness, however, every community has their flaws. Some areas I feel that we can help Hanover become a better place are updates on certain areas, helping the homeless, educational options, and the square. If we focus on one area at a time the community can become a safer and welcoming environment for everyone to enjoy.

There are many studies done regarding the population of homeless people in Los Angeles. The fact is homeless people are misrepresented by our government because they do not want to expose the severity of the issue. There are agencies assigned by the local government to obtain information about the population of homeless people in our communities. The Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority “coordinate the effective and efficient utilization of federal and local funding in providing services to homeless people throughout Los Angeles City and County.” In order to provide better services to the homeless community a homeless count is conducted to measure whether the homeless problem is getting better or worse. The Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority

One of problems that community face is homelessness. Homeless persons who live in street and eat from garbage cans deform the view of the civilizational,yet there are questions need to ask. Do they choose where they live and what they reason. To answer these questions we should define homeless persons. Homeless persons, who live in street, lose their jobs, houses, and more,because an illness or, addiction that they have. They do well in a period of time, but one mistake that cause them to lose everything if they addicted to alcohol or drug. Having mental problems lead homeless to live on street. No one want to live like that whether sleeping on the street or eating the wasted food from garbage cans. Also homeless persons have lack of money