Lending a Helping Hand Essay

According to many people, homelessness is caused by low minimum wage, high unemployment rates, and overpriced housing. The minimum wage in California is $9.00 a hour, and a one bedroom apartment in Los Angeles is about $1,983. About 7.1 percent of the people are unemployed in the Los Angeles county, and about half the people rely on minimum wage. These overpriced apartments make it difficult for many families and individuals to have a stable home. When it comes to minimum wage or unemployment, you have one of two options, you either go hungry or become homeless. In order to fight against the real issue, we have to raise minimum wage, create more jobs, lower rent prices, or provide more financial support to

Imagine one making a huge decision to leave family, friends, and a familiar lifestyle to go serve and protect their country for months or years at a time. Imagine one risking their life and putting forth their time just to come back to no home, money, or health care while have developed a mental illness. The government promises all of these benefits one may never see and they end up on the streets without a home finding ways to cope which may lead to addiction. A study shows that “There are estimated to be about 50,000 homeless veterans on any given night with about 1.4 million others at risk of becoming homeless, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans said, citing government statistics” (Shaw). Many of America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, and many other wars. Nearly half of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam era. Two-thirds served their country for at least three years, and one-third were stationed in a war zone. Homeless veterans all across America come from different backgrounds and homelessness does not discriminate against gender. These veterans, including males and females, suffer from homelessness due to: being unemployable; suffering economic hardships; battling substance abuse, and lacking proper legal aid. Yes, there are plenty of resources out there to assist the homeless veterans that may help some but there are still too many veterans living on the streets.

Data indicates that it takes years for the trauma associated with military combat to appear, hence the name post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After the Vietnam War it took nine to twelve years before veterans began showing up at homeless shelters in large numbers. It’s unfortunate that ANY veteran who we reposed special trust and confidence in would someday find themselves living on the street at ANY point in their life.

According to the 2012 Annual Homeless Assessment Report released by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an estimated 62,619 veterans were homeless on any given night in 2012. The good news is that the estimate represents a 7.2 percent decline from the 2011 estimate and a 17.2 percent decline compared to the 2009 estimate ("Veterans," 2013). Although progress is being made, there is much to be done. There are veterans with the same needs as the general homeless population, but also veterans with severe physical and mental health disabilities, related to their service, that necessitate permanent housing with supportive services.

More than a half million veterans in the United States are homeless at some time, and on any given night more than 300,000 are living on the streets or in shelters.

One of the simplest pieces of knowledge we acquire in elementary school (for future growth and development) are the three basic needs a living organism requires for living: food, water, and shelter. However, not everyone has access to all of these essentials. Homeless people are faced with awful conditions and suffer more due to poor weather conditions, diseases, and lack of safety. There hasn’t been much progress on this issue, and if this continues, the number of homeless people will only increase. In a few states the topic is being named as a “statewide emergency”, but unfortunately this problem is national. Instead of focusing on state programs, local programs and non-profit organizations to fix the housing issue, we must all contribute to ending this epidemic. The National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) released an article stating, “In January 2015, 564,708 people were homeless on a given night in the United States” (Snapshot of Homelessness). We must develop a solution to end long term homelessness immediately. The best way of solving this issue is to provide stable long-term housing, which is a term used to describe the home’s environment and financial status.

Homelessness is a serious societal problem affecting our communities. Katel of Housing the Homeless says “about 1.5 million Americans use a shelter in a given year- and advocates for the homeless say that figure badly understates the problem.” Yet, society looks down at these people, not doing anything to help them. They are judged, criticized, and bombarded by false assumptions everywhere they go. I have heard people say “they are like that because they chose to” or “they are lazy and don't want to work.” This is not true in most cases. The reality is life can go wrong at any moment for anyone. For some people there is no one there to help them and their only option is living on the streets or a shelter.

Also, while thinking about this particular issue, through the process of brain storming, I have begun to think about other issues that need to be solved where I live. I do know there are a lot of homeless veterans around where I live who are unable to get any help when it comes

There are more than 500,000 homeless people in the United States.” In January 2014, communities across America identified 49,933 homeless veterans during point-in-time counts, which represents 8.6 percent of the total homeless population.” (http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/fact-sheet-veteran-homelessness). 91% are male, 98% are single, 76% live in the city, 54%have a lingering mental and/or physical disability. “... veterans live with lingering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse…”(http://nchv.org/index.php/news/media/background_and_statistics/). We sit here on our electronics while there are homeless veterans that chose to fight for our country and now that they’re

Every year the United States of America send a total number of 22.7 million men and women over the age of 17 overseas to fight for the protection of the country (Veteran Affairs, www.va.gov). That is 22.7 million sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, and other extended family members. When their service is complete many of these war veterans return home to their families, but some have no families to return too. On any given night, there are over 107 thousand veterans sleeping homeless on the streets of America; hungry, thirsty and without shelter (Veteran Affairs, www.va.gov). That is not say that the men and women who have families are safe from homelessness. A majority of the homeless veteran population comes from people who

Veteran men and women of all ages have fought for our freedom, and gave us a place we can call home yet each night majority of them do not have a place to go or to call a home. “While 8% of Americans can claim veteran status, 17% of our homeless population is made up of veterans” (Veteran Homelessness). Each night they must worry about where they are going to sleep, what they are going to eat, and if they have the proper clothing for any weather that could come there way. These people chose to fight for us, and in return we are giving them nothing. A vast majority of these veterans also have the daily

Lastly, one more thing the government can do to stop homeless from living on the streets is to open a place at night for them to just stay. Opening a place for homeless to come to at nights is a great thing to do. When winter months comes around, the days are going to be too cold for people to live out on the streets. Nobody can live out on the streets when the temperature is going to be below zero or close to zero. The government should start doing some of these ideas because one day it might be them that is homeless and don’t have any place to

People drive or walk past a homeless person almost every day without thinking twice about the plight of that person or they may even unconsciously turn their heads the other way in disgust. Homelessness simply put, means without a home - therefore homelessness is an equal opportunity state that can happen to anyone. Even though we have seen some economic prosperity over the years, statistics show that the number of homeless remains very high. With this in mind, communities need to come together at the state, city, and individual level to come up with solutions to mitigate the spreading of this problem.

According to suitcaseclinic.org, homelessness is a temporary condition that people fall into when they cannot afford to pay for a place to live, or when their current home has been declared unsafe or even unstable. According to Habitat.org, this issue affects between 1.6 million to close to 3 million people within the United States ("World Habitat”). The issue is growing throughout the world, yet what is the root cause? Numerous people wonder how they can help. Most tend to believe that the solution is as simple as just giving them money to use for daily living. Even though their root cause for their issue isn’t money. It is the fact that they don’t grasp how to use their money properly/ responsibly. The homeless can’t be helped with just cash, they need the proper support systems along with education to become successful.

Prior to completing Skip Downing’s “On Course Self Assessment,” I was starting to realize one of my most sabotaging behaviors. I find it incredibly difficult to say a three-word phrase. When it comes to assisting others, I have no problem lending a helping hand, but I cannot tell anyone that “I need help.” In writing this paper I hope to recognize the roots of my problem and adopt a plan to aid me in overcoming this negative behavior.