...Homeless people in America Name University April 15, 2013 People being homeless Introduction: Now a day’s students face the world overflowing with global inconsistency, no job opportunities, high level of education cost, and increase in the rate of poverty in America. We know that hunger and homelessness is spreading rapidly in the United States. In the resent years, the national poverty rose to the level of 13.2 percent of the population. And nearly 3.5 million people were compelled to sleep in the parks, under bridges, in shelters and cars. In comparison to the high cost of living, low- wages jobs, and high unemployment rates are considered to be the main reason behind the problem for countless Americans to make a choice between food, housing, and other expenses. If the society does not treat this situation as a notional priority and address those in a systematic way the problem will keep continuing with the future generation as well (Alayne Potter, 2011). People Homeless: The United States consists of more than 3.5 million people from all walks of life experiencing the homelessness every year. And 35 percent of homeless populations are families with children, one of the fastest growing sectors of the homeless population. The remaining homeless population consist 23 percent of retired U.S. military people, 25 percent of children under the age of 18, 30 percent of experienced domestic violence, and 20 to 25 percent of people suffering from mental illness....
Words: 893 - Pages: 4
...Homeless Persons Heather Gustafson Axia College of University of Phoenix Homeless Persons A problem that continues to grow in the United States is Homeless people. Millions of people are homeless due to a variety of circumstances and the number still grows daily. History In the United States, de-institutionalization of the mentally ill -- unaccompanied by promised outpatient psychiatric and social services -- led to a large increase in the homeless, mentally ill population in the late 1970s. The number of homeless grew in the 1980s, as housing and social service cuts increased. This was in part a consequence of the transfer of federal dollars to a huge military buildup (including the spectacularly wasteful and unsuccessful "Star Wars" strategic missile defense initiative) and consequent large budget deficits. Fortunately, public compassion soared, and in 1986, 5 million Americans joined hands across the country to raise money for homeless programs (May 25, 1986 Hands Across America). In 1987, the McKinney Act authorized millions of dollars for housing and hunger relief (Donahue, 2007). Nature and Issues of Social Problems Homeless and poverty go together. People are unable to pay for food, clothing, shelter, child care, health care, and education. Choices have to be made to have what they need for their daily life so they have to put other things behind to cover necessities. Domestic violence leads people to become homeless because they are...
Words: 1290 - Pages: 6
...Introduction Homelessness is a critical issue within the United States of America. According to the United States federal law and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, if a person lacks a fixed, regular, or adequate nighttime residence the person is then considered homeless. The National Alliance to End Homelessness reported that on a single night in January 2015 564,708 people in the United States were considered homeless, meaning they had no place to sleep. In the 1870s the issue of homelessness in America emerged causing many homeless people to live in urban cities. In the 1930s this issue worsened due to the Great Depression, causing poverty and more than two million people were homeless and in search of work. The homeless...
Words: 1390 - Pages: 6
...Where Does America Go from Here? How close to being homeless are you? Any person living in poverty is one mishap away from living out on the streets. Many Americans live everyday with a risk of being homeless or becoming homeless, America has the highest homelessness rates in the world and the biggest problems are not enough jobs opportunities and outsourcing, not enough affordable housing, and mental illness. PROBLEM 1 Homelessness can be directly related to a shortage of jobs in America due to outsourcing and businesses being shut down. Although most of the population has jobs there is a small percentage that don’t and in that percentage lays the homeless percentage. Long-term unemployed individuals rates have not changed since June of...
Words: 1608 - Pages: 7
...Is homelessness a problem throughout the United States? How can the government help lower the homeless population? The amount of people in the United States that are qualified as homeless has been growing since the 1980s. “Homelessness, the condition of being literally without shelter” is a chronic problem in the United States. Being homeless does not just mean one has no shelter; being homeless can also mean when two families are living doubled up, or in a welfare motel that the government has bought as a shelter for the less fortunate. One can become homeless for a number of reasons, the number one reason being bad luck. Most families that become homeless are the ones living paycheck to paycheck. The lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and the cutting of federal aid...
Words: 2320 - Pages: 10
...Throughout the United States statistics show that there is evidence of an increase of persons that are in the state of being homeless. Conditions such as unemployment, low income, substance abuse, and mental disabilities are just to name a few. Some of these victims of being homeless are those that are least expected which include members of the military, the veterans, mainly those that have served during the time of the Vietnam War. As a direct result of Post Traumatic Syndrome and other mental/medical disabilities many in this group may not have a permanent home to call their own. To define homelessness according to the site for National Health Care for the Homeless Council (retrieved 2014), one of the official definitions for the state of being homeless or homelessness is presented as follows: A homeless individual is defined in section 330(h) (4)(A) 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 (e.g., shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing.” A homeless person is an individual without permanent housing who may live on the streets; stay in a shelter, mission, single room occupancy facilities, abandoned building or vehicle; or in any other unstable or non-permanent situation. [Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C., 254b)](National...
Words: 1358 - Pages: 6
...Why can’t we end Poverty in America? Jake Hauser English 102 12/6/13 Today in the United States, more than 46 million Americans are living in poverty. The word poverty is defined as; the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. In other words, poverty is essentially the state of being poor. In a broad perspective, there are two types of poverty. There is relative poverty which refers to people who live in poor accommodations, cannot afford certain necessities, and struggle to make ends meet. In most cases for theses people, there is welfare available to help them so it would be rare for them to go without somewhere to live or to go starving. The other kind of poverty is known as absolute poverty. This is the kind of poverty that you would see in third world countries. These people have no food, no water and no help and it usually leads to death. Believe it or not, poverty is a worldwide problem that is taking place in every nation on the globe. In fact, half of the people in the world today are living on less than $2.50 per day. Statistically, Haiti is the most poverty stricken country in the world, with 77% of it’s population living below the poverty line. It also has a 40% unemployment rate, and many poverty-stricken people live on less than $1 a day. The United States may not be the most poverty stricken country in the world, but that doesn’t mean that there still isn’t a big problem in our...
Words: 1835 - Pages: 8
...Child homelessness is on the rise in America. ¬This must be corrected before more children become homeless. In 2013 Alabama ranked #50 for having the most homeless children in the United States, Arizona is number 45 (Sco). Children who are homeless are more likely to be victims of poverty, domestic violence, and affordable housing. Right now in America, NBC reported that in 2014 one in 30 American children are homeless (Martha C. White). Why are so many children homeless this day and age? How would it feel it have a homeless son or daughter? Homeless children are often victims of poverty, domestic violence, or affordable housing. This is why so many of them are homeless. Homeless people have something in common whether you are young or old, its substance abuse (Zeisemer). Youth and teens ages 12-21 often find themselves lost with nowhere to go. Some of these teens often resort to the use of drugs and alcohol (Ringwalt.) Drugs and alcohol for these kids help cope with what they are experiencing. With the use of drugs and alcohol this leads to the children killing themselves because they overdose or become addicted. Drugs and alcohol are a factor to homelessness, because of this child homelessness is on the rise....
Words: 656 - Pages: 3
...issue is American homelessness, a segment of the population that continues to grow with each passing year. Homelessness is caused by a number of factors that differ for each person. The most significant causes of homelessness are the lack of affordable housing coupled with a national increase in poverty, mental illness and addiction disorders. According to the McKinney-Vento Act of 1987, a homeless person is defined as any person who lacks housing. This includes individuals whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility that provides temporary accommodations or an individual who is a resident in transitional housing. This means an individual who lacks fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, and an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is either a supervised shelter that provides temporary accommodation, an institution that provides temporary residence for those that should be institutionalized, or a private or public place not intended for regular sleeping accommodations. (McKinney-Vento Act, Wikipedia) The United States Conference of Mayors has indicated that the major cause...
Words: 1900 - Pages: 8
...crisis faced across the globe. Homelessness can be simply defined as a person living without a home, forcing them to reside on the streets. Some homeless people exit the situation quickly, but many more fall into homelessness long term. Much of this trend is due to many social-economical factors in the society. Drugs, finances and abuse are some of the root causes to this problem. The lack of jobs, rise in living costs, addictions to drugs, and domestic disputes are what drive people to become homeless. According to a report released by the US census Bureau, (2014), the rise in homelessness is significant, hitting 3.5 million people who experience the situation in every year. Out of the 3.5 people experiencing homelessness, 35% of them are families that include children. The families in the United States are the fastest growing segment of homeless individuals. The military veterans who are homeless constitute 23% of the total people who are homeless in the United States. Of the 3.5 million homeless people, 25% are minors who are aged below 18 years (U.S. Census Bureau 2014). The minors become homeless when their families or the caretakers become homeless. Some of the homeless children lack paternal families and may have run away from the orphanage and children homes to make lives on their own. The statistics showed that 30% of the homeless people had experienced domestic violence and 25% suffered from mental illnesses. In the urban settings, some individuals experience homelessness...
Words: 1356 - Pages: 6
...is a major social issue facing our society today. Homelessness among United States Veterans in particular is at epidemic levels for those returning to civilian life. Given the Iraq and Afghanistan tours and number of soldiers returning from multiple tours in “hell”, it is little wonder the number of homeless vets has more than doubled in the past two years. (Zoroya, 2014) Serious measures need to be taken to save our “fallen soldiers” from the depressing life on the streets of America. But in order to do this we must first understand the life of homeless vets to determine why conventional attempts at solving this problem just don’t work. Our society needs to take ownership in working with State and Federal Government to implement successful solutions which produce positive results in eliminating homelessness among our veterans. The number of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans who are homeless or risk losing the roof over their heads is increasing as more of these soldiers return home from active duty. At the end of September, 2014, 531 of these vets were living on the streets of Connceticut. (Zoroya, 2014) These numbers are actually much higher because it only represents the number staying in shelters or those receiving federal temporary housing vouchers to pay rent as noted in Department of Veterans’ Affairs reports. (Zoroya, 2014). There were more than 62,600 homeless veterans in the United States according to data from January 2014 report released by the U.S. Department...
Words: 1567 - Pages: 7
...4 million workers left the job market entirely (Folks, 2013) and are now facing housing crises. As the demand for affordable housing continues to grow as adults are unable to find work, many Americans are facing homelessness and have no affordable housing available to them. All across America, more people are finding themselves homeless. Whether in big cities or small urban towns, the homeless rate continues to grow as the inability to pay for affordable housing grows. The number of people paying more than fifty percent (50%) of their income toward rent increased by more than six percent (6%) from 2009 to 2010. The United States Housing and Urban Development (HUD) classify those paying that high of a percentage as “severely housing cost burdened”. In a survey conducted by the Low Income Housing Information Service, more than 17.6 million households with children experience at least one major housing problem, meaning that one out of every two households with children in this country experience an issue with housing (Kaufman, 2013). Per The National Alliance to End Homelessness (2012) the national rate of homelessness was 21 homeless people per 10,000. Nearly four in ten of those homeless are unsheltered, living on the streets or in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not intended for human habitation. Homelessness affects people of all ages, races, ethnicities and geographies but studies have found that people recently discharged from prison, young adults leaving...
Words: 1828 - Pages: 8
...discuss the homeless population. I add a personal perspective on how I can assist with the problems that the homeless face such as shelter, food, clothing, transportation, and job training as an advocate. The most proximate cause of homelessness in America is poverty (University of Richmond, 2003). In the United States today there is approximately between five to six thousand people who are homeless. A person who is homeless is a person who does not have a permanent place to live; this also means a person who is sleeping in a relative’s sofa or floor (McKinney-Vento). Illness, violence, addictions, poor nutrition, and unemployment are some of the problems that come alone with homelessness. Since the population of homelessness is on the rise, new programs have been formulated by experts in order to aid the homeless and try to prevent the homeless population from increasing. Advocacy refers to influencing decisions that affect the welfare or interests of another individual or group (Barsky, 2000, pg. 219). Helping clients set goals, educating them of the resource they have available, helping them locate the available resources, and working towards changes in policies that limit their abilities would be a way of my advocating for the homelessness. Empowering clients to change their situation is an important way for me to advocate. I feel that one of the best ways that I would be able to advocate for the homeless would be by...
Words: 608 - Pages: 3
...of the homeless population (Weidman, Executive Director, & Vietnam Veterans of America, n.d). An estimated 47% of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam era, more than 67% served the nation for at least three years, and 33% were stationed in a war zone (Boone, Executive Director, & National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, n.d). Biases and Stereotypes Individuals label the homeless with stereotypes and personal biases due to lack of knowledge. These same stereotypes label the men and women who have served our country in WWII, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Some individuals believe that all homeless are lazy and do not want to work; they would rather sit alongside a road and beg for money, so they can buy their alcohol or drugs. Homeless are thought of as individuals who have made poor choices in their lives. Many veterans who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are thought of as crazy and not able to function in society any more. Individuals may think that veterans have it made with benefits provided for themselves and their families including better health care than most of the working population in America. Demographics Numerous reasons can contribute to homelessness; Experiencing low or no income, poor living conditions, crowded substandard housing, lack of access to health care and mental disorders such as PTSD. Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that more than 275,000 veterans are homeless; more than...
Words: 1202 - Pages: 5
...Homelessness in America. This issue has gone un-solved in many places in the United States. It is a complex social issue with many variables. Homelessness is when an individual does not have a stable or reliable place to live. Many homeless people can’t provide themselves or family with a decent meal and clothing. People are homeless for several different reasons such as, eviction, domestic violence, and some situations pertaining to not having a place to live. Many natural disasters ruin homes and places of employment, which is another cause of homelessness and unemployment in America. Minorities make up a huge percentage of homelessness. Minorities are a huge percentage of homelessness. According to National Coalition for The Homeless fifty one percent of homeless people were Latinos and African Americans. Many reasons why minorities are homeless is because the lack of education and problems within their families and homes. Domestic violence shelters are available for those we have gotten into a physical altercation with their partner and feel threaten. These individuals are usually placed in shelters outside of their borough in order to protect them. Government aid for the homeless varies from state to state. Some states don’t have a good system, which does not help those who are in need of housing. Many homeless people suffer from heat strokes and/or hypothermia because they have no choice but to sleep in the streets. The main cause of homeless in America is the lack of...
Words: 491 - Pages: 2
