preview

Persuasive Essay On Homelessness

Decent Essays

The homeless are a growing group in our state, nation, and even worldwide. California is one of the states with the highest homeless population; about one-third of the nation’s homeless population resides in the state. The United States homeless population is over half a million people, about 0.5% of its population. The worldwide homeless is even more staggering, around 100 million people are living on little to nothing. The majority of people categorized under being homeless are mentally ill. Mental illnesses are a driving factor in homelessness, and the issue needs to be addressed more, and not brushed off with the age-old statement “they chose to be homeless with their actions”. Around 23% of the homeless are diagnosed with some …show more content…

Veterans make up a significant portion of the homeless mentally ill. Veterans usually suffer from PTSD and substance abuse, something that is left untreated or undertreated by doctors. This ‘great’ nation of ours has no respect for the people who risked their lives for their country, something that we glorify for all the wrong reasons. The programs set to help these citizens are not helping much at all; for example, the Grant and Per Diem Program can only sponsor 8,000 homeless veterans. The other subprograms do not meet the current immediate need either: the long-term aid is not sufficient enough to help them out of homelessness, and the compensated work therapy program obviously does not function. If the government is not taking any actions to help out homeless veterans, what can society possibly do to help? The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans only aids 23% of homeless veterans (nationalhomeless.org), and that group is government funded. More programs that are efficient have to be set by the government if we wish to right the wrongs in our country. Another demographic that mixes more minorities is the LGBT community. Within the community, there is an estimated 33% of LGBT youths that suffer from a mental illness and 30% that are homeless (Sam P.K. Collins). It is said that because of the youth’s exposure to “difficult life circumstances - combined with living in a shelter - homeless children are at a much greater risk of developmental

Get Access