The Main Causes And Prevention Strategies Of Homelessness

As a matter of fact,“[m]ost people are not aware of other realities different [from] their own and think it is a ‘social norm’ to have [basic necessities] and a ‘social abnormality’ to live in the streets” (Source A). These people fail to realize there could be a situation in which the homeless could not avoid the cause. For example, some homeless people are born to a family in poverty. According to research, poverty is the largest contributor to homelessness, and “the World Bank, as of August 2008, [estimates] 1.4 billion people live on $1.25 per day or less, and 2.7 billion people live on less than $2 per day” (Source B). Although poverty is the largest cause of homelessness and is often called ‘the silent killer’, natural disasters, in extreme measures, could cause a person to lose their life along with their home. Homelessness can become a reality also when people become evicted when their bills become high and are not paid on time. The government lacks public assistance for people who are homeless because “[e]ven though the government has provided some shelters for homeless people, overcrowding forces many [people] to live in the streets” (Source

Homelessness is defined as the situation of an individual or family without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means, and ability of acquiring it. It is the result of systemic or societal barriers, a lack of affordable and appropriate housing, the individual/household’s financial, mental, cognitive, behavioral or physical challenges, and/or racism and discrimination. Most people do not choose to be homeless, and the experience is generally negative, unpleasant, stressful and distressing6. Homelessness is a problem that affects every Canadian town or city, and is one that is dealt with using a variety of different methods.

Homelessness is a critical issue that requires everyone’s attention. Hundreds of thousands of homeless people live on the streets as their shelter. Historically, homelessness has always been a problem in society. Homeless people were known as “the wondering poor”, “sturdy beggars”, and as “vagrants,” but it was not until the late 18th century that homelessness because noticeable to society. Homeless person is anyone who lacks adequate shelter, resources, and community ties. People who are homeless can be categorized as chronic deinstitutionalized or temporary

After doing much research, I have learned that to develop awareness and interventions to be able to help the homeless population, we must understand their mental health and behavioral needs. The information they all share in common are the factors why a specific type of population became homeless. The interrelation of homelessness and mental illness are informed by many factors such as; the lack of support, extreme poverty, substance abuse, lack of affordable health insurance, and lack of affordable housing. The homeless population shares different struggles when dealing with homelessness and mental illnesses because there are not enough resources for them to be able to come back to their normal self. When it comes to their struggles, they

Homelessness is one of the tragedies that one can face unexpectedly as well as where one can choose. Being homeless is often defined as “sleeping on streets” and most people in the society only regard homeless people to be uncouth, uneducated and drug addicts that are epidemic in the community, where many do not put into context any other reason as to why people become homeless. However, individuals who chose to live on streets have placed this kind of bad reputation to homeless community and thus the society cannot be fully blamed for the judgment they give a person that is regarded as homeless.

The severity of homelessness and poverty has been a much-debated topic in America. Some people believe that homelessness is one of the most serious issues in our country, while others think that the percentage is not high enough to qualify homelessness as a massive problem. In, reality, however, the subject of homelessness cannot be confined to simply “existent” and “non-existent”.

Homelessness has always been growing across communities in the United States, and many struggle from it as they are people who are lacking in funds, causing them to be without a home. Today, homelessness among individuals is becoming more common and is unfortunately spreading all over the world. Most home owning people are unaware of the actuality of the conditions that the homeless people reside in and many cannot comprehend the troubles and hardships they face just to keep themselves alive. Most homeless people are known to reside in abandoned buildings, buses, cars, street corners and in many community parks. Most homeless people can barely afford to eat every day and to survive many live on the scraps and leftovers from others. Homelessness is defined as someone who cannot afford to pay for housing without depriving themselves of the essentials needed in life. People who become homeless do not all necessarily live on streets, but many “homeless people in our modern society stay with friends, relatives and even in shelters as they cannot afford to live on their own” (Espejo 28).

We never fail never fail to hear some negative news about lots of people who is homeless and lonely, which caused that the government obligatory to exhibit the effective policies for the homelessness. In the modern society that is full of competitions, more and more individuals have lost a variety of opportunities, and most of them are poor and challenging in the daily life. So, we find that these people don’t have any income and insurance, which caused that they lose the house, and other basic conditions of life. Also, there are some children are encountering these terrible solutions. In a word, most of the humans who are homeless have underprivileged power due to the limited competence of other perspectives.

Homelessness is a major problem in the United States of America. Homelessness is a state in which people do not have a place to stay in for a period of time and are always spending their time on the streets. From a teenage eluding a bad environment, to an elderly citizen on a fine tuned income that is not enough to cover a rent or the tax increase, to a child whose parents lost their job out of nowhere and became unemployed are what leads to homelessness (“Homelessness Resource Center” 1).

Poverty has tenaciously been existed in some form in modern American society, however, its boosting economic growth leads the entire world. Within the framework of general circumstances of poverty, issue of homelessness is taking into specific consideration from the government. A field study program in Boston allows a unique opportunity to gain my previous experience related to homeless people and organizations that take care of those vulnerabilities. Boston city considered to be one of major cities that has majority of homeless people in entire country. People who become homeless, in most cases, lacked financial resources, extremely low income and are challenged by the expensive price of affordable housing. In simply, poverty leads to main cause of homelessness. Moreover, in some cases, domestic violence, and improper atmosphere within the family, mental illness also lead to cause of homelessness. The most worrisome issue is women and children who are the most vulnerable, continuously effected and suffered by domestic violence become homelessness. Individual

Defining homelessness has been controversial, but most researchers collectively accept that it is a situation in which an individual lacks a permanent place of residence. According to First, Rife, and Toomey (1994), if a person lacks shelter, even on a temporary basis, such an individual becomes homeless. Therefore, most homeless people live on the streets or find temporary accommodation in managed public and private shelters. Most researchers state that a close analysis of the issue of homelessness reveals that there are both individual and structural causes. The structural causes of homelessness comprise poverty, unemployment, economic structures, and social policy while the individual causes include substance abuse, alcoholism, and, domestic abuse, mental illness (Johnson, 1994). However, of the two causes, almost all researchers agree that the structural causes are the leading, describing them as intrinsic in the United States’ political economy. However, it is important to examine the individual causes of homelessness because of their prevalence.

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

Many reasons for worsening situation of homelessness in the country have been reported but none has gathered as much support as poverty. Poverty alone accounts for major increase in homeless households while other possible reasons include loss of job, eroding job opportunities, lack of public assistance and lack of affordable housing facilities. Despite these being powerful reasons, they are all linked to one major reason i.e. poverty.

The risk of individual who may currently have a home, but are at the brink of homelessness is high. It is often easier to ignore people who are homeless or even ignore that homelessness exists in our society because it is easier for society to blame the individual rather than society itself. It is important to advocate for those who are not able speak up for themselves. The article by the National Homeless Coalition (2009) states that there is a decline in public assistance for individuals who are homeless; therefore it is integral that we as a society seek assistance for these individuals and help promote awareness of the rise in homelessness.

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty” (Brainy Quote, 1997). In the past homelessness was known as a result of any war. Nowadays, the percentage of homeless people is around 60% worldwide. Also, the concept of homelessness is an expression that covers a huge number of countries which means it shifts from nation to nation. Individuals who are needy are regularly unfit to earn and keep up a standard, protected secure and sufficient stay. Being caused mainly by the individual’s conditions, homelessness can affect people’s health and personal life.