Summary: The Problem Of Homelessness

Homelessness is one of the oldest problems that exist, fast forward almost 40 years since it’s been recognized as one and still there has been no avail to finding a real solution. The definition of homelessness under the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act is defined as an individual: “who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and a person who has a nighttime residence that is supervised publicly or privately operated shelter, and c) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or a private or public place not designed for, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.”

The war to end homelessness seems to not have an end, although there are so many great organizations and communities working tirelessly to end homelessness. At this moment in time, there is no doubt that some communities are trying to end chronic homelessness. A chronically homeless individual is someone with a disability who lives in a place not meant for human habituation. Many communities create great programs to reduce the number of homeless individuals. In addition to that, the communities attempt to save the state several thousands of dollars that might have to be spent on those individuals that might need medical assistance or when problems with law enforcement

With a large homeless community and vacant houses one of the first natural thoughts could be to renovate these houses, and turn them into homes for the homeless. But, it just may not be that simple. In the article, Barbara Samuels, who is a managing attorney for the ACLU of Maryland’s Fair Housing Project referenced an attempt to do that exact same thing about two decades ago. A developer named James Rouse and city officials put forth more than $130 million into a poverty-stricken neighborhood to rehabilitate houses and build more, and sadly there are even more vacant houses than before. Unfornately, this probably caused some people to feel there is nothing that can be done, and loose all hope in restoring these homes.

Homelessness has become an evolving epidemic of our time, and the health implications associated with being homeless makes it that much worse. Homeless people are at major risk for premature death and a wide range of health problems such as HIV, skin blemishes, and much more. It is very difficult for homeless people to fix their health issues due to the difficulty of accessing health care possibly because of missing health cards, or simply because of the stigma placed on them when they enter a public facility. Whatever the problem may be that is forcing more people to become homeless, it must be solved, and quickly before our world turns into a travesty.

Homeless is taking place throughout the world. That is an issue because some people still end back on the street or never had the opportunity to get off the street. Some inviduals may still be on the street and never go the opportunity to get off the street. Each inviduals have their own story of how they became homeless. Some inviduals may have ended up homeless due to unemployment, house caught on fire, was staying with a family member who later passed away, never had money save in case of a emergency and the list goes on. The issue that relate to housing for the homeless is that it is not enough space for everyone. The programs that is available tend to be overcrowded due to so many people being homeless with nowhere to go. Another issue with housing for the homeless is the environment in some programs. The environment can be harmful and unhealthy to an inviduals and especially a homeless child. When a child is homeless, that has a effect on them growing up as far as their mentality and their skills and ability of learning.

It should be noted that there are different types of homelessness. Homelessness as a result of a natural disaster like Katrina is temporary since those individuals are only displaced for a short period of time. Circumstantial homelessness occurs when someone’s circumstance change – like loss of income, illness, or domestic abuse - that causes them to lose or flee from their home. Finally there is long term homelessness that applies to those individuals who have problems with substance abuse, people who choose to remain homeless because they have become accustomed to that lifestyle, and those individuals with mental health issues. Effects of Homelessness (Bodine, n.d). It is long term homelessness that tends to have a more negative impact on communities.

Blowing wind, extreme temperatures, lack of private amenities and feeling of shame; these are all of the issues that homeless people endure on a daily basis. Homelessness is an issue that is on rise for many communities throughout the United States. It not only is your stereotypical person but it can be families who have come of hard times but also our veterans who have served our country. According to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council website (2016), “A homeless individual is defined as an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in a transitional housing” (para. 1). Issues caused by homelessness have many communities creating policies and ordinances for those issues that could become a future problem.

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 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.

The first reason, many people choose to being homeless is because they cannot afford rent. “The lack of affordable housing is a primary cause of homelessness according to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. HUD has seen its budget slashed by over 50% in recent decades resulting in the loss of 10,000 units of subsidized low income housing each and every year”. By: Bill Quigley. Common Dreams, Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community. Through my experience of being homeless, it is a true complaint that homeless are always making, that rent is too high amongst each other. Having affordable housing would be great for getting the homeless off the streets. Family’s with kids, that mothers receives Welfare that the Federal government provides can help a bit with the homeless. People with low-incomes, that have minimum wedge jobs but the income is not enough for

“Supporters of strict laws barring behavior associated with the homeless argue that allowing large numbers of homeless people to commit quality-of-life offenses in urban neighborhoods is unfair to those who work, live, and play in those neighborhoods” (“Homelessness”).Allowing homeless people to linger in communities is unjust to the people who live there and work there. “Proponents of housing first note that the cost of providing homeless people with apartments is far less than the cost of letting them remain on the street” (“Homelessness”).It costs less to house the homeless rather than to let them stay on the street. “Housing first, they contend, has demonstrated that chronically homeless people are not beyond help but just require permanent housing before they can properly address mental or physical disabilities” (“Homelessness”).Housing first will help address a homeless person’s problems and will have permanent housing for the

Several studies have found that it costs three to four times more to leave someone on the street than to give them a home with support services. This is due to the tendency for those to go in and out of shelters, the hospital bills for those with no money, as well as incarceration for violations such as squeegeeing and panhandling. A reasonable person would look at this and say “Instead of giving up 30 billion every year to fund the continuation of homelessness in the city, why not invest in affordable public housing and shelters to decrease the amount of money you will spend?” Homelessness in the city continues for two reasons that I will discuss in this paper. The first

Often it is housing, that absorbs high proportion of income that can cause Americans to become homeless. Twelve million homeowners and renters pay more that fifty percent of their annual earnings for housing. This percentage is astonishing high for the county who has the best weapon system in the world. Although, several programs were developed such as the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to stabilized homelessness, America should not have a large amount of homeless people, we should take care of our own people. According to National Coalition for the Homeless (“In a survey of 24 cities, people remain homeless an average of seven months, and 87% of cities reported that the length of time people are homeless has increased in recent years (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005)”). Seeing children and families living in shelters should not be permitted, in this great nation. Instead of interfering with other countries well being, America should focus on its own citizens. Investing in increasing developing affordable programs would prevent people from becoming homeless, and be in

The costs that are incurred with providing emergency services such as, healthcare, shelters, and other services associated, is an expense on the taxpayers. According to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, Ending Chronic Homelessness in 2017 reported that the cost of having an individual remain in a state of homelessness, cost the average tax payer an estimated $30,000 to $40,000 a year (USCH 2017). Additionally, there exist multifold of issue that closely impact all communities, especially cities with high episodes of homelessness. One significant determinant of homelessness is the urgent need to reevaluate our state’s homeless policies. To decimate homelessness, I propose two policy alternatives intended increase the numbers of reduction of homeless individuals within the cities and consequently state and on national levels. My first policy alternative is to address w the foundational issue of housing and that would commence with reassessing housing affordability, conducting intensive research into new building new housing under a free market. Fact is our economies are improving, thus creating affordable housing is more achievable today than in the past. To start with, the city of Denver, Colorado has been battling a homelessness crisis for some time, in turn leaders got creative and innovative with new sights of success in combatting

Homelessness has always been a problem in major cities across the United States and even the world. This problem also affects out local community and even all of us individually. (Daily) A majority of the American people lives paycheck to paycheck, and according to statistics, we are only one or two paychecks away from becoming homeless. While there are many reasons a person or family can become homeless, a majority of those problems come from a lack of income. The job market of today is quickly dwindling and shows no signs of improvement. This market mixed with new government policies is becoming an issue for struggling American’s on the poverty line. Homelessness is becoming a vast problem