...Homelessness in America Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Homelessness remains to be a complex problem in the American society given the ever increasing number of the homeless people as time goes. There is a need for the government and the American society at large to help the homeless since it is shameful for society as wealthy as America to have homeless people in the society. On the other hand, there are several people who are perceived to be homeless in the streets of America's cities but are capable of sustaining themselves. The opponents of assisting the homeless argue that such people have the potential to sustain themselves if the government and the society’s support system are withdrawn and therefore, assisting them only burdens the government and the society. For all the stakeholders to develop an effective homeless policy, there is a need for the development of mechanisms that will lead to a proper identification of the homeless. Identifying the correct population of the homeless people involves coming up with a proper definition of homelessness. Different definitions of homelessness are widely used in America. Those definitions are controversial since different stakeholders use a specific definition of homelessness to justify their action. One of the most effective and all-inclusive definitions is called the point in time definition. It is a one-time survey of all the institutions, the shelters, and all the other places on the street with a high tendency of...
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...Homelessness is not a new problem facing our nation; it dates back to the beginning of time. Homelessness is defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as “an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” This definition is how the number of homeless individuals in the U.S. is calculated. There are many reasons why a person becomes homeless; some people are homeless by choice, others are forced there by circumstances. According to a 2006 report issued by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the main causes of Homelessness are: lack of affordable housing, poverty, low paying jobs, unemployment, mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence and prisoner re-entry. This report will take a closer look at each cause to determine why it is such an issue. Is homelessness and problem people must accept as inevitable or is there a solution to reduce the number of homeless in our community? Over the past 25 years, several trends have contributed to the rise in homelessness. The first trend is a shortage in affordable rental housing. This includes all forms of rental property whether it is a house or apartment. Rental rates rose with the rate of home values but when the housing market crashed at the end of 2007, the rental rates did not drop. The increased popularity of luxury, resort-style apartments have also aided in a high rent market. The foreclosures that the United States has been experiencing have left many people with...
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...Homelessness in U.S. Society Misty D. Coleman Breckenridge School of Nursing Homelessness can be caused by tragic life occurrences. Losing a loved one, job loss, domestic violence, divorce, and family disputes are some of those occurrences. Depression, post traumatic stress disorder, other mental statuses, and physical disabilities are some major contributing factors that play a role in homelessness also. Some people view homelessness just as another social class and don’t realize how big of a problem it actually is . I feel that society in general is not aware of the homeless and the resources that could be available for the m to help the homeless. Some people view homeless as lazy. Yet, they do not ask individuals how they got where they are and they just assume. If those that are “better off” realized some of the things the homeless people endured to get to where they are, and how easy it would be to help them, I feel that the homelessness would not be as big of a problem in the U.S. One theoretical approach that I have is to use more of the empty warehouses to use as shelters for the homeless. The government could pay minimal costs to repair the warehouses enough to provide shelter for them. This would do two things for the communities. It would make use for old, ran down warehouses and it would allow less homeless people on the streets begging. Another theoretical approach would be to have the government assist food banks. If the government stepped in and regulated...
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...E2 6 May 2011 Homelessness/ Poverty in the United States A very important issue in our country is homelessness and poverty. This is important because poverty and homelessness have psychological effects on individuals. We can see this issue in Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle because the Walls family is always moving around. Homelessness affects your appearance severely. The Walls family doesn’t have enough food to go around. Research shows that the rate of homelessness and poverty is high. The government is trying to reduce the rate of homelessness and poverty. Many Americans have gone through poverty or will go through poverty at some point in their life. In my paper, I will attempt to inform you that homelessness and poverty is a topic which should be taken seriously. Homeless ness and poverty have psychological effects on individuals. In website http://ic.galegroup.com, homeless in the United States swelled for a variety of reasons during the 1800s. Such examples are: migration to the frontiers; displacement caused by the Civil War; immigration from Europe; seasonal employment in agriculture; construction, and mining. This is important because these are some causes of homelessness. Isn’t sad to know that there are so many reasons why there are homeless people out there? In 1929 the Great Depression triggered a new wave of homelessness, as many people lost their jobs. This is important because the Great Depression is yet another cause of homelessness! To address the...
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...When there's been many individuals or maybe an entire family that are homeless, on the streets in most every corner and in almost every street, their only outlet for their conditions are begging for something to eat, or informal living doing odds jobs. Our economy in the United States is usually based on control through fear which most people are scared of losing their job or there fear on losing their home and basically heaving to live in the street if none of their friends or family won’t take then in, most of the people are in debt they use money from the government or company and don't pay back or not pay back on time so the interest keep going up, and there allot people that are greedy not wanting to help others only wanting something...
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...Everyone deserves a shelter live, however, not every person gets to have a home. Homeless without shelter must get a lot challenges and discrimination in social. Homeless people in U.S.A should be given access to services, such as provide food, donate money, donate items and create jobs for them. However, there is never a guarantee that the homeless people who will increase the quality of their life. Until now, U.S.A is rich but still homeless people exist. Why ? Because homeless people think U.S.A“Public welfare” is more convenient and easily for help homeless people to get allowance and some benefit . However, homeless people use it on drugs or alcohol. They abused U.S.A government’s welfare. Others argue is about when economy changes...
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...Homelessness is an ever growing problem for years in the United States, and the debate on if the government should help is question that has been brought to the table. There has been a sharp increase in the homelessness in 2010 from approximately 407,966 to 640,000 since the fall of the economy (endhomelessness.org 2012). This number only represents just the people that have been reported in shelters. If you look closer the number of homeless in the US is amazing. Homelessness is a complex problem, with many challenges and variables. But for all of its complications, the solution to homelessness to some is surprisingly as simple placing them in homeless shelter. For many city officials, community leaders, and even direct service...
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...THE HOMELESNESS 1 The homelessness Mario Berrios Concepcion Columbia College This research was prepared for HUMS 365 American Social Policy Instructor Jessica Whitmore 24 july 2014 THE HOMELESSNESS 2 The homelessness Homelessness is a major problem facing many US cities today. According to Foundations of Social Policy in the United States a house is a commodity, developed and traded for profit. A house can provide shelter and protection. A home provides continuity and a social context for individuals and families, and those become homeless lose more than a shelter (Smith Barusch 165). With its many causes, homelessness is an extremely diverse problem that has proven difficult to remedy. Though some homeless people find themselves in unfortunate situations, others are homeless by choice. Those who choose homelessness do so either indirectly, by making decisions that result in negative consequences, or directly, by opting to be free of life’s responsibilities. This belief is not commonly found in print since society most often feels compassion and pity toward the homeless. Still, assistance is offered on a federal level, as well as on local levels. Although there are many charitable organizations, along with the government, that offer assistance to the homeless nationwide. Homelessness remains a prevalent problem mainly due to the fact that some of the homeless choose that lifestyle. The Stewart B. McKinney Act, which provided assistance...
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...research paper on Homelessness in Ireland. Write a reflective paper, with maximum 2000 words including references, discussing and reflecting on – The causes of homelessness – The issues that Homeless people face – Solutions to Homelessness – The Simon Society in Ireland Homelessness in Ireland Homelessness is one of our biggest problems in the word and also in Ireland. According to the statistics there are 3808 homeless people living in Ireland. Those include the people who are sleeping on the street, the ones who are staying in refugees or alternative hostels, people who live temporarily in bed and breakfast, or with their family or friends or illegally in squats. Figure 1 1 Figure 2 In the Figure 1 you can see how many homeless people each city or region has and the Figure 2 shows us the statistic categorized in homeless male and female living in a accommodation and the ones who don´t have a stay. But what causes the homelessness? Unfortunately most people think that homelessness is mostly caused by they own fault. A lot of people think after some personal failures the people loose control about their life caused by alcohol or drug abuse and become homeless. Although the personal failures named before also affect homelessness there are more personal reasons that caused homelessness and also most people forget to think about the structural reasons that also affects the homelessness. Some personal or social issues that can cause homelessness are individual influences...
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...Homeless in Prince William County Introduction and background: Homelessness is one of our nation’s most misunderstood and vexing social problems. Many individuals of all races struggle with the devastating effects of homeless including families with children, single adults, teenagers and the elderly. This is an issue that can be defined as living in unsuitable, unsafe and overcrowded environment. “On a single night in January 2013, there were 610,042 people experiencing homelessness in the United States, including 394,698 people who were homeless in sheltered locations and 215,344 people who were living in unsheltered locations” (Henry & Cortes, 2013). This shows homelessness in American is a crisis, many more individuals become homeless everyday. They struggle moving from place to place, night after night, in constant state of fear and survival. People become homeless for a variety of reasons. Homelessness is primarily an economic problem, and is also affected by a number of political and social factors. Economic factors include the lack of affordable housing, “housing costs have risen steadily across the country, and they have skyrocketed in many areas. Further, the inability to afford housing is concentrated among households with incomes below the poverty level, whose members account for the vast majority of people entering homelessness” (Burt, 2001). The growing gap between wage earnings and the cost of housing leaves millions of families and individuals unable...
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...208 The Truth about Homelessness There is a man standing on the side of the road. He holds a sign that reads; lost job, have family, anything will help. His eyes stare at the ground as he shamefully holds the piece of cardboard. His family stands behind him with nothing but fear in their eyes. We see people like this almost every day, either on our commute to work or school, to the local grocery store, or even just on our way home. So many times we convince ourselves that somebody else will help them. We make our selves believe that the next person to drive by them will help them out; that we don’t have the time, but somebody else will. This is the problem. Why is Homelessness an issue? Despite Washington's recovering economy, homelessness is on the rise. An estimated 25,000 residents are without shelter on any given night. There are many circumstances that may cause one to be homeless. Living a homeless lifestyle does not occur to one “type” of person but more so, I believe, is the outcome to a series of decisions and outcomes. Some of the outcomes that may have led these individuals to their current situation could be: Loss of income, inflation, misdiagnosed mentally ill patients, practicing poor health, as well as the uneducated and untreated drug and alcohol dependent individuals. Homelessness destroys families and communities, undermines morale, contributes to crime, creates drag on the economy, and also prevents people who used to live normal lives from doing normal...
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...country, but they are faced with difficulties upon returning home. Some of the problems confronted by veterans are homelessness and mental disorders. Veterans are an important part of the US history. According to The History of Veterans Day (n.d.), Armistice Day was started at the end of World War I. Then twenty-eight years later, the name of this holiday changes to Veterans Day to honor all of the veterans who fought in any war. After that, some programs were created to support those veterans. The US Department of Veterans Affairs (2015) said that the purpose of this department is to create programs to help veterans with their needs. Some of these...
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...breaking night Mijanou Marretta-Lewis Chamberlain College Professor D January 27, 2014 Board Meeting As chair of this board, I feel it is important to address some of the issues brought forth by a few members of the board. I am in support of having a shelter built for the homeless, predominately mothers and children of the underserved population. Times are tough right now and at any given moment any one of us may be only one humiliating step away from homelessness. A job loss, serious illness or any other everyday occurrence of life could cause us all to be on the streets. The concept that the working poor are lazy, did not earn high school degrees, are not using birth control, and lack responsibility for their actions is uninformed thinking. These stereotypes hinder us looking at the big picture. Every day we walk past people in the streets who do not fit the stereotype of homelessness (Voices, 2014). There are people who you admire like Cary Grant, David Letterman, Daniel Craig, Sylvester Stallone, Ben Franklin, Tyler Perry, and Samuel L. Jackson, Col. Harland Sanders, of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, who were all homeless(Voices, 2014). William Shatner, who after Star Trek was cancelled in 1970, lived out of his truck for a while working in summer stock plays across the country. These people made great contributions to society. You don’t know what contributions others may be capable of making in the future if it weren’t for homeless shelters. Our country has...
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...There’s no place like home | | Homelessness started as far as the 1930’s when the stock market crashed causing “The Great Depression”. During this time people lost jobs and their homes. People were devastated at the fact that that they were forced to sell their belongings. Later on in the years homelessness began to increase after the war because the vets couldn’t find jobs and were forced to live on the street because no one would hire them. The reason that there are so many people homeless is because the economy. People can’t find jobs so they have to sell their home and downgrade to a smaller home or apartment. Often there are times when families are broken up because the husband can’t provide for his family and they end up on the streets. The root cause of being homeless can be explained by economics, it’s said that people who become homeless are going through a financial issue and are unable to obtain or maintain their homes. Research shows that 83% of the homeless population experience episodic, transitional, or temporary periods of homelessness. The challenges that people in poverty ridden areas in trying to keep their get a home is the level of the housing cost burden. When housing is 30% or less of monthly income then it is considered to be affordable. Data collected from the US Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey shows that 75% of the households at or below the poverty line are severely housing cost burdened. When your housing accounts for 50% or...
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...of Los Angeles: Homelessness Marqueta Oliver BSBO1ELEG6 10/29/2014 Paul Korzeniowski The True Face of Los Angeles: Homelessness Even though some people believe that tourism is a more important focus in Los Angeles than poverty, Homelessness is a crisis in Los Angeles because it affects everyone and reducing homelessness will improve the economy. Homelessness in our nation affects our, communities, economics and families at large. Being a native Angelino, I grew up not realizing that homelessness is an epidemic. I did not understand why there were so many homeless people, nor did I think of seeing panhandlers asking for money and food as a crisis, but I viewed it as “normal”. I always knew local transients by name and would try to help with spare change or a meal when I could. I had no idea of the staggering statistics of homelessness in my community; I didn’t understand the effects of homelessness on our economy and that the alarming rate of poverty level in my metropolitan city, affects us all. By focusing more attention, resources and time to housing our poverty-stricken communities in the long run it would cost less and would also create a more humane society. In the beautiful city of Los Angeles, tourists from all over world fill the cities top attraction sites daily. What most tourist may not know is that every morning before dawn, Los Angeles has a long history of using police to control public spaces by limiting the appearance of homelessness in the city. While...
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