Hunger In Chicago Research Paper

Hunger in America can be hard to recognize. With how the economy is now, the effects of hunger are more severe. Many Americans are relying on food stamps and private organizations to help with this crisis. Millions in this nation are currently suffering from hunger in America. Half of that being from job loss. More than 12,000,000 children suffer from food insecure hunger because of limited or uncertain access to nutritious food. About 900,000 are hungry in the three- country Detroit metropolitan area alone. The hardest hits are the elderly, the unemployed, immigrants, and the mentally and physically impaired.

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.

Here is food for thought: Is hunger affecting your community? Most of us wake up every day, eat breakfast, go through our usual work routine just to come home and eat dinner without a single thought of anything different. Some of us, however, wake up not knowing when or where our next meal will come. Solano County is not excluded in this situation. Behind the cities and landscapes, there is an abundance of people who cannot afford a sufficient meals for themselves. Impoverished families are facing devastating health conditions since their low wages cannot support themselves to live or eat. Even in the small agricultural land of Solano County, hunger is a severe problem that should not be overlooked.

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.

Among general population, homelessness has been a social, economic, and public health concern in the U.S. for at least three decades.

According to C. J. Carnacchio’s article, there are only around 300,000-600,000 homeless people in America, compared to the total population of 325.5 million. Only 15 percent of the homeless are homeless because of circumstances they could not control (Carnacchio, 2002). Carnacchio’s article also states that one of the most common reasons for homelessness is that

“Hunger”, by Lan Samantha Chang, is a cautionary tale of an immigrant Chinese family in this complex story about unrelenting hunger, oppression, love and loss. Narrated by Min; the deeply unhappy and obedient wife of Tian, a gifted violinist, finds work as a music teacher in New York, but ultimately fails to land a permanent job at the school. Driven by personal failure and his unrelenting hunger for the violin Tian cruelly forces his two daughters, Anna and Ruth to play the violin, so they can follow in his footsteps. Tian’s inability to separate himself from his violin ends up destroying his family. Chang uses Tian’s obsessive hunger for the violin as a symbol of his identity, showing us that we must be careful

Everybody knows the feeling of hunger before his or her next meal. Think of that gnawing, empty feeling in your stomach. That feeling, that discomfort, is nothing compared to what millions are going through everyday in America alone. Imagine always being incredibly hungry. Imagine not knowing where your next meal will come from. Imagine not knowing if you will even get to eat each and every day. Millions of Americans, children and adults alike, suffer from those exact feelings. There are countless starving people in America, and as some of the more fortunate, we need to do something about it.

The National Health Care for the Homeless project showed that children up to twelve years of age that are homeless, are twice as likely to come down with an ear or upper respiratory infection. They are three times as likely to have a gastrointestinal problem and four times as likely to have a skin problem and ten times more likely to have bad teeth. For children thirteen to nineteen there

Hunger in America is very important and dangerous. Hunger means that people are in need of

* Poor housing- One of the side effects of poverty is poor housing. People on low income are often dependent on local authority housing. This may result in overcrowding, for example being housed in a bedsit or home with insufficient bedrooms. This means the child has no privacy, or personal space. They may struggle with homework and course work because of the lack of a quiet space in which to complete it. The housing provided may be of a poor quality – suffering damp or be in disrepair. This could have a detrimental effect on the child’s health – causing asthma or frequent colds and coughs. It will probably be in a less desirable area or could be in an area with social disorder problems. This may result in the children becoming isolated, as

Although dealt with separately, many of these factors above are connected such as unemployment or low income can lead to poor housing. Poor housing can lead to health problems, which can lead to frequent school absences. They will not only affect the child’s present lifestyle and health, but also their future.

In 1998, the U.S Conference of Mayors’ survey of homelessness in 30 cities found that children under the age of 18 accounted for 25% of the urban homeless population. A 1987 Urban Institute study found that 51% of the homeless populations were between the ages of 31 and 50; other studies have found percentages of homeless persons aged 55 to 60 ranging from 2.5% to 19.4%. (National Coalition for the Homeless factsheet)

Hunger in America happens every year to homeless people,kids, and adults,as sad as it is even new born babies. This could happen to anyone why? There is several reasons maybe some people don’t have the money. What if you were that person how would you live knowing that your child isn’t getting proper nutrition? Many people don’t seem to realize how much this really happens. one in 7 people in the United States face trying and struggling to get food to eat, and more than 12 million American family’s face hunger. Food insecurity is harmful to all people, but it is especially devastating to children. Proper nutrition is what a child’s needs to help with their development or you can say growing. Did you know that while hunger is nonstop - African

Evidence has shown that teen homeless across America is ongoing and impacts youth of all cultures and backgrounds. There are millions of youth that are homeless in the United States. The typical ages of homeless youth are eighteen and younger. In America the average youth becomes homeless by age fourteen (www.safehorizon.com). Youth can become homeless for a number of reasons e.g. finances, verbal and physical abuse, pregnancy, sexual orientation, mental illness and neglect. Many youth and young adults have also become homeless due to aging out of foster care services. Youth