Across the table from me sat a man with gray hair, crooked teeth, and a warm smile. This man had lived all across the United States (all corners and midland except for the Pacific Northwest). Surprisingly enough, he went to Regis Jesuit High School when it was still an all-boys school. In terms of furthering his education, he received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in history. After this, he taught middle school in New Jersey and Colorado for 20 plus years. Now, he was homeless. His name was Rocco.
Rocco has been homeless for over 5 years. He explained to us that he had some property holdings and when the economy plummeted in 2008 so did the value of his investments and the money that he had. When asked to describe being homeless he said, “You know, I think this is my place to be in. Like God is saying to me, ‘You need to experience this’ and now I am.” This struck me. Never would I think someone could embrace homelessness with such grace and such understanding. To him, there was no need to wallow in his situation, instead, it was simply a stop on his journey. He was going to learn from it, and his life would eventually make a turn for the better because of it.
Rocco spoke to us about the culture of being homeless. He took us through his typical day: bouncing from shelter to church to senior center to another church and back to shelter. When asked about the other homeless, he said that he has never felt scared. As an alteration, he added, “But what could a 60-year-old man
“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
Before I read “A Brother Lost” by Ashley Womble I viewed homeless people as greedy and lazy. I believe I only saw one real homeless person and to turn out he was a sex offender and all you seen was people giving him free food and giving him money, only if they knew… I didn’t know who to believe, if I should help anyone out. Actually one time I gave this guy $10 because I believed he needed more than me but to turn out as soon as I walked into Wawa everyone was like why’d you give him money? He’s using it for drugs, he just lies to make people feel bad for him. I also viewed so called homeless people lazy. Go help yourself, everyone has tough times push through it apply for jobs, don’t feel bad for yourself, provide for yourself. After reading
The “homeless culture” is a mix of the people from a variety of backgrounds. They share a culture in that they lost their homes when they were disenfranchised due the US subprime mortgage crisis.
Being a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives, Matt Lynch discusses the prevalent issue of homelessness in his article. He introduces his work by developing a person with the name of Greg, who has an office job and stays at a homeless shelter. Lynch further discusses the motley of reasons why homeless people become homeless. He compares the shelter to a hospital waiting room where occupants are entertained, which span from playing cards with other residents to watching television. Thereafter, he describes bills and government programs
For Father’s Day this past year my family and I treated our Dad to a Houston Astros baseball game. The game was held at Minute Maid Park in the heart of Downtown Houston. We were running late for the game and it began to rain. While driving around I witnessed more homeless people on the streets than ever. As we walked to the stadium after parking, I could not help but think about each of their (the homeless) situation. It was daunting to me that they were spending a holiday alone and it was a norm for them. Homeless people are often not given the time of day by everyday citizens. Chris Hadfield explains that when a problem exists, human nature causes us to bolt from the situation rather than approach it immediately (Hadfield 55). Currently (2016) there are approximately two million Houstonians (Suburban Stats) and of those, more than 5,000 citizens are homeless (Homeless Houston). It is easy to forget about the homeless because they are neglected from society. If homeless people were given a purpose, then they would not be occupying space on the streets.
Always, I was told from parents and elders that anyone can achieve their dreams through arduous work and dedication. Surprisingly, I hadn’t pondered this until I observed a shivering homeless person standing at the corner asking for help on one snowy, frosty winter day. This affected my life greatly. On the way, I just started thinking about the life of homeless people and how they are not fortunate enough to get their own place to live, their choice of delicious food to eat and several other amenities that we all enjoy in our everyday lives. An incident, like this, sparked an enthusiastic sense of compassion and empathy in me. Along with my family, I started thinking deeply and my thoughts to help the homeless expanded to other areas and I wanted to start helping the community around me as much as possible.
“Homeless is more than being without a home. It is tied into education needs, food, security; health issues both mental and physical, employment issues, etc. Don’t forget the whole picture.” (“Boxed In” 2005 pg. 108)
Homelessness in America has existed for some time now, but has grown and changed majorly over the years since the 1980’s. According to Mary Hombs, “the prevailing stereotype of a homeless person was that of a middle-aged white urban male alcoholic” (6). But now there is no stereotype because homelessness could happen to anyone at any moment, so that is why it important to be aware. Millions of people in this country do not have a place to live including whole families, children, veterans, and even the mentally ill. Going day after day without food or shelter. Throughout this paper the main focus will be answering the questions: What is homelessness?; What are the main causes of homelessness?: Who is the homeless?; and How do the people of this country assist the homeless?
Every homeless person has their own story for why they don’t have a home or income whether it is they immigrated to a new country, a disability, or they lost their job. Whatever the situation is, they all have their unique story. We shouldn’t be quick to judge or assume it was their decision. Sometimes we aren’t able to control a situation and for some people they are forced to
During the 1980’s the number of "homeless" people, those without a house in which to reside, increased at an alarming rate. Many analysts have given much time and thought as to the reasons that this phenomenon occurred. They cite economic instability and government policies with facts and figures to support their work. Beyond the research and cold statistics that explain this event, are the victims, and those that worked to help relieve their hardship. An interview with Philip Guerrieri gives us insight into the personal lives of these individuals whom he calls "houseless," and the realities of staying alive, both physically and spiritually, on the streets.
Many people throughout the world look at homeless people negatively, and that is some thing they do not deserve. People automatically assume homeless people are dirty, uneducated, and dangerous, but this is not always true. Many homeless people are war veterans and need help to get their life back on track, but they are too scared and hated to seek it. The stereotypes associated with homeless people make many people shy away from helping them and that is one of the reasons why they are really suffering. I chose homelessness as my topic because it is an issue that should be addressed and examined more carefully. People treat homeless people unfairly because of the stereotypes associated with them and choose to ignore them instead of helping them.
Following the Second World War, Canada has made various efforts to improve its peacekeeping reputation, and beginning with them joining the United Nations (UN) after its creation in 1945, they were mostly successful. However, not all of their efforts have been successful; they have also made some mistakes along the way. A few examples of Canada’s efforts within the last 60 years include the Suez Crisis in 1956, the United Nations Mission for Rwanda from 1993 to 1996 and United Nations Operation in Somalia in 1992.
1. This informative speech on “The Cause of Homelessness “is very Inform able and worth listening to, because in today’s economy it could be you or me. Some seem to think homelessness is choice. I find this speech relevant to the world I live in today, due to the high unemployment rate, declining job market, and the economic hardships that families are enduring. This topic is not a broad one, but yet can be spoke of in depth due to the fact I see many homeless people but never thought it would be me until I seen a family friend who has lost everything, this is what made me more aware that it is not just a choice and any day it could be me. So when you see
The word “homeless” is used to describe many different kinds of people with a variety of problems; the “homeless” includes veterans, the mentally ill, the physically disabled or chronically ill, the elderly on fixed incomes, men, women, and families that have lost their source of income, single parents, runaway children who’ve been abused, alcoholics and drug addicts, immigrants, and traditional tramps, hobos, and transients (Martin, 1999). In “Helping and Hating the Homeless”, Peter Martin claims that although these people all have different backgrounds, histories, and reasons for not having a “home”, they are categorized and stereotyped by society and all looked down upon for being “homeless”. He addresses his readers, those that pass by
As I stated before, far too often our society ignores that homelessness is a struggle for many people. Additionally, our society often thinks these people choose to be homeless. Terra talked about an incident at a gas station, and how one of the employees at the gas station said all the people at across the street are drunks and addicts. She talked about how upset she gets when people have these misconceptions about people that are struggling with homelessness. Hearing her talk about this broke my heart because our society should not shame people for being homeless; instead, we should be looking at solutions to end homelessness. It is a human right to have basic human needs, yet our society continually provokes their unjust agenda.