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Homelessness : The Homeless Population Essay

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Homelessness affects millions of people every year. Homelessness is an endless epidemic that continues to grow. There isn’t one specific causal factor to this every increasing population. Individuals experiencing homelessness come from various backgrounds and cultures physically, financially, and emotionally. They could be considered the melting pot for diversity. Often times individuals experiencing homeless are judged by their outer appearance with no regard for the contributing factors to the situation. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, “in January 2014, there were 578,424 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in the United States. Of that number, 216,197 are people in families, and 362,163 are individuals” (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2015). The homeless population contains “about 15 percent who are considered to be chronically homeless and 9 percent are homeless veterans” (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2015).
Homelessness has several different subgroups to include families, youth, veterans and the chronically homeless. Each group can have several different contributing factors that contribute to becoming homeless. There are sometimes some overlapping factors as well. “Families experiencing homelessness are similar to other, housed families living in poverty. In fact, many poor families – homeless or not – share similar characteristics: they are usually headed by a single woman with limited education, are

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