My Personal Experience Of Homelessness

Currently, the rates of homelessness in America continue to drastically increase. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2012) depicted how many people are homeless in a single night in America. The findings revealed that there were approximately 633,782 people who are homeless in America or 20 out of every 10,000. Approximately 394,379 are single individuals and 239,403 are people in families with 77,157 homeless families in a single night, and approximately 162, 246 are children. Veterans are more likely to be homeless than those who are non-veterans, approximately 29 out of every 10,000 veterans are homeless. Unfortunately, 38 percent of those who are homeless are unsheltered, either living on the streets or in places that are not suitable for human inhabitation. Most states account of for less than 1% of homeless population, whereas Texas contains approximately 5.4% of America’s homeless population. In San Antonio, there are approximately 2,981 people who are homeless each day, and 1,243 are unsheltered. Through a sociological perspective, the social problems of homelessness can be analyzed through the concept of sociological imagination, the comparison of the person-blame approach and the system-blame approach, and through the analysis of one’s own community’s effort in helping those who are homeless.

Homelessness has been a problem in Hawaii, and especially Oahu, for more than two decades. The homeless have overrun the islands but it is no surprise as the circum- stances allow for it. Multiple factors contribute to the ongoing dilemma including the high cost of living, Hawaii being an island state, and the expensive housing. The prob- lems that cause homelessness are not going to go away by themselves. Although the problem is not increasing, the numbers show that it isn’t decreasing and shouldn’t be unless the state and community acts.

Hiking through Rocky Mountain National Park the beauty was overwhelming, the next day our team was serving in downtown Denver in a Street reach meal service to people suffering from homelessness. The beauty of the mountains was overwhelming but then we surrounded by this vast issue of homelessness. Both of these moving experiences, along with many other moments during the week, that made this trip personally impactful and helped me to see the world in a more vivid light.

We often hear that people in our society blame the homeless for living on the streets. Society does not think it could happen to them but in reality it can happen to anyone. Society tends to forget that what the homeless have to go through with the struggles and obstacles of living on the streets. The cold temperatures, lack of clothing, sleep and food, this is not a choice someone would make.

Everywhere you turn in the United States people are sitting on the corners of streets asking for assistance or digging in trash cans for meals. The epidemic of homelessness in the United States has reached an all-time high since the 1990’s. Unfortunately, the adage of people chose to be homeless was not accounting for families that live paycheck to paycheck and lose their job and therefore their housing because it is unavoidable. Alternatively, many individuals that are homeless have some type of mental illness or substance abuse problem thus creating a barrier to maintaining housing. Many of these individuals are incapable to preserve stable employment and have limited support to get off the streets. However, there are several programs that the federal government fund to assist with combating the problem of homelessness in America.

Homelessness is a serious problem in our society. Every night in our nation thousands of people are on the streets. This type of behavior is considered deviant because it does not reflect the norms and values of our society. In many cases the homeless people in our country are treated as total outcasts. Many of these people have severe mental disorders. Some are victims of an economy that has failed them. One may ask how such harsh situations exist in such an advanced society. With all the money and programs created to help people it seems ridiculous that this behavior exists. In a society where people have so much how is it possible that there are still people that have so little. The homeless are humans, no different than anyone else.

I could not believe how many homeless there were, men, women and children. The stories of tragedies of moving to a new place, losing a job and ending up on the streets. The hope of finding a better life for their children and someday getting back on their feet. Some having lost hope and others with mental health or medical problems that needed care. These were human beings living on the streets like dogs and getting food and shelter where they could.

Cities increasingly grapple with homelessness, while facing budget cuts to various services, but the failure to tackle homelessness creates more problems. While there are homeless people who are on drugs, some are there because housing is expensive and they have no reliable sources of income. Homelessness may result in the city spending more on welfare in a never ending cycle without finding a solution to homelessness. There are various factors associated with the risk of homelessness, including individual factors like those fleeing domestic abuse, and even those who can longer earn a living because of health conditions and disabilities. The problem of homelessness is further compounded when the homeless suffer mental health issues and alcohol or drug dependence (Benston, 2015). Homelessness is a problem that affects even the youth, and stakeholders ought to work together to tackle the problem, as city officials, and residents are the audience who should be concerned with the problem at the local level.

Homelessness is an epidemic social problem that faces several individuals and families across the United States, especially in Detroit, Michigan. You may have seen a person or family sleeping on a park bench, under bridges and other public areas. Perhaps you have seen them holding up a sign on a street corner asking for money because of the hunger pains. At some point, we all had taken a look at the person holding up their sign thinking it’s not my problem. Why should I help? They’re probably lying or scamming just to make money to buy drugs and alcohol. However, there is a small part of us who may want to give money, buy some food or we may to choose to ignore the problem. Who are we to decide who’s

Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located between the two larger cities in central Florida those being Tampa to the west and Orlando to the east. While interventions to interrupt and end homelessness may vary across groups, ending homelessness permanently requires housing combined with the types of services supported by programs operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This paper will address demographics for the area, identify the social issue of homelessness, and address using a social action model for community change, and the strengths and weaknesses of the model.

A person is considered homeless when they do not have a permanent place to live. Homelessness is becoming more common every day. I had the rare opportunity to see and interact with the people facing the challenge of homelessness at the Homeless Connection Event. This paper will discuss my perceptions of the homeless before the event, a few interesting facts, and my thoughts after the event. The paper will also discuss my impressions of the homeless after the event and my opinion of the interprofessional relationship between students who participated in the event.

“With nowhere to stay except the streets, people experiencing homelessness have a much higher risk than the general population of developing exposure-related conditions such as hypothermia and frostbite. These conditions can be immediately life threatening and may also increase the risk of dying from unrelated conditions in the future.”(National Homeless)(3). The homeless are suffering in these intolerable conditions, they are spending months in the frigid cold and as a result, they could get a cold related illness on top of being homeless. These chilly conditions are conditions that no human would ever dream of facing and would never even think to live in them but to the homeless, these conditions are what they have to face every single day in the winter. “While the holidays were a time of celebration for many, for homeless residents in Berkeley, the dropping temperatures meant increasing strains on their health that led to the death of two community members.”(The Daily Californian)(4). The homeless are suffering the hardships of the ice-cold winter nights while many people are inside their cozy, heated homes, celebrating the holidays. During winters, the temperature outside begins to drop, homeless people are spending weeks or maybe even months in the freezing cold and for most, they cannot find a way to get out of it. Thus, the homeless are facing

As we know there a lot of homeless people in Los Angeles. Each year the population of homelessness grows each day. Homelessness is an issue because it affects the community. The cause of people might be because the made a bad choice and at the end they regret it. After being homeless, they can imagine having a great job or career, owing a house and their own property they want to have wealthy lives again like they had before being homeless. Homeless people wanted to bring back their lives as one piece. People who have become homeless might have lost their jobs causing them to be homeless. Los Angeles County last April, her benefits of three hundred and fifty five was suspended on October after EDD did not respond to her requests to

The first experience is the homeless people in the streets of New York city. So many people have to be healed emotionally and physically. This man called Bombiyo needs emotionally healing because he has many bad experience and how he said “i didnt choose this life.” Bombiyo is an alcoholic and he also needs Physically and mentally help/healing so he can get on his feet and make his life better because of something bad comes out something good.then their was this lady who almost made me cry when she said that she was left there while they took the four doggies so they wouldn 't freeze. This touched me and how is it possible that we value a dog more

     Homelessness as an issue in today's society is largely ignored. To many, the problem of homelessness is invisible or barely noticed. When these people do see the homeless it is found in the form of beggars who need to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” or mentally ill people who “just can't help themselves”. In either case the central point remains; the homeless must be people who are incapable or unwilling to help themselves. After all, wouldn't they stop being homeless if they just tried? These sorts of rationalizations cover a more disturbing truth; that for many in today's society, the spectre of homelessness is more pressing of a problem than helping those who are already on the