Reflection Paper On Homelessness

mouth, depending on generosity of strangers or efficiency of a government agency for your survival, for your children’s survival.”

My capstone project is on homelessness and preventative methods. Research on the various factors that are associated with homelessness and how to best reduce or end the homeless situation. Research shows that there are many suggestions on methods to reduce homelessness (the Homeless First Program) which have proven to reduce the numbers in various states across America (Tsemberis, Gulcur & Nakae, 2004). The homelessness problems are multifaceted with overlapping of other factors such as mental illness and risks, which include substance abuse, health disparities, and victimization, all of which have a role in the homelessness (Canton, Dominguez, Schanzer, Hasin, Shrout, Felix, McQuistion, Opler & Hsu, 2005).

“On any given night, there are approximately 643,067 people experiencing homelessness in America.” Homelessness in america is becoming a severe crisis a crisis we need to find solutions to. There are not many sound solutions to homelessness unless the government wants to spend millions of taxpayer dollars. Some of the solutions to homelessness can be government housing for the homeless, increasing employment and Income, and creating a crisis response plan.

Topics for a final paper: I know other students are thinking the same thing, what am I going to write about to cover that many pages? Where am I going to find the information to support the subject? Will people be interested in the subject? The last question is what I am asking you, my fellow students.

I decided to do homeless as a research because at a young age at the Philippines I would see children on the street close by my grandma house in Manila. When I was six years old my grandma would tell me, “you better not play with them.” But I never listen. As a child, I love to ask questions because I am curious about everything and even today. As I remember the child nicknamed was Cat-cat. Cat-cat would tell me that he slept in all kinds of places but mainly on trees or top of the roof when he was 10 years old. Sometimes he had hop fences into primary school and sleep in their playgrounds. As he remembers at the first time being homeless was when he wandering the streets for hours. He tried to find a place to sleep in the close trash where

Homelessness can be a temporary condition that people fall into in the United States when they cannot afford to pay for a place to live, or when their current home is unsafe or unstable. The estimated amount of homeless people in the United States is about 3 million. (National Alliance to end Homeless) In 2014, there are approximately 578,424 people in a single night that experience being homeless. In my opinion, the United States should have more shelters to help the homeless people instead of spending money on unnecessary things. The three main people groups that are affected by the homelessness are the unemployed, pregnant teens, and veterans.

Homelessness is defined as “An Individual who lacks a fixed regular and adequate nighttime residence”, (Burt, 1989, p.17). Have you ever stopped to wonder how many people are Homeless? Who are most at risk to fall into this situation? I highly doubt it. While most people really do not care and ignore homeless people, others look at them as motivation, people whom they do not want to become. Another question that comes to mind is, how do homeless people survive and what are their legal rights. What causes people to become Homeless is it a choice or a failure of society? Do homeless individual have the same perspective on life and show the same emotions as ordinary people do. What can we do to help stop homelessness? These are the topics

The issue of homelessness is not one that is easily defined or characterized. In fact, many organizations and legislative actions spend a significant portion of their time and resources in attempting to define homelessness. For, only once the issue is defined can it be effectively addressed. There are also, perhaps, different types of homelessness whose resolution may need to be addressed with differing methods from one another.

Poverty and homelessness are connected when individuals, families and the working poor attempt to live below the poverty threshold. The underprivileged and those living under the poverty threshold are “frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education” (nationalcoalitionforthehomeless.org). Housing accounts for a major percentage of income and often must be eliminated. “Two issues that contribute to increasing poverty are: eroding employment opportunities for large segments of the workforce and the declining availability of public assistance” (nationalcoalitionforthehomeless.org).

As a young First Nations single mother of two I had witnessed first hand the struggles, barriers and obstacles many people in the community were facing; issues such as, lack of basic housing, inadequate food, poverty, addictions, and suicides to name a few.

percent increase since the homeless count in 2013 (Halstead). These numbers are only expected to go up in the coming years, as long the problem of not enough room in shelters exist.

When we were first introduced to this assignment, I was both excited and nervous. I was excited because it gave me the opportunity to step of my comfort zone. I was also excited to be able to get out into the community and practice some of the social work skills that we have learned in class. I was nervous because I knew it would be hard to hear the struggles of a single-parent experiencing homelessness. As someone who was raised by a single-parent, I also know how easy it can be to fall into homelessness. Overall, I think I was more excited about doing this assignment because I truly did want to hear the stories that single-parents experiencing homelessness wanted to tell.

Homelessness is a social condition in which people live on the streets due to mental illness, drug addiction, or poverty, and is a social problem that is very unjust. On some of my family’s recent vacations to big cities like San Francisco and Chicago, I saw many homeless people trying to survive on the streets by asking for spare change. One of the most notable times I’ve seen homelessness was in Chicago. While I was there, I saw many homeless families, around 15. It was one of my first contact with homelessness and I felt awful seeing so many people in poverty. Some people were holding up dirty cardboard signs with torn clothes, while others were asking people for spare change. Many people, including myself, walked straight past them, ignoring their cries for help. I had to do something, so I did give a small donation. Hopefully, it would help in the long-run. Overall, homelessness is a condition that we should try to eliminate.

Many homeless people are struggling to survive. We do not see it because we live in our own world. The one thing people think of is that the homeless are lazy. Not all homeless people are lazy. They might have lost their job or maybe they cannot support themselves. Imagine you lost your job, and you are wearing black baggy jeans, a gray tank top and living by yourself with no one to talk to on the street. Would you feel happy not being acknowledged by others? Although people walk right past the homeless, they do not feel the struggle of what they go through. We should acknowledge the homeless because it would improve the quality of life.

Poverty and or homelessness is a problem all over the world, nobody knows exactly how many homeless people there actually are, among many of those homeless were many veterans of the world war I. For serving in the war they had been given bonus certificates for money to be paid them years in the future. But they needed the money now to provide homes for their families.