...Homelessness is an ongoing problem around the world, being especially noticeable in Austin, Texas. Specifically in Austin, these people go without food for days on end, all while being surrounded by restaurants wastefully throwing away perfectly good food at the end of each day, because they have nothing to do with leftover food. A charity called “Action Hunger” recently installed a vending machine for homeless people in the UK. The charity partnered with nearby shelter called “Friary” which keeps up with donations to the vending machine. I hope to extend the idea of a community vending machine to Austin, in hopes of help the homeless have access to bare necessities, as well as solving the extreme waste of restaurants’ excess food. The already-active vending machine in the UK is accessible to homeless people through keycards distributed by the partnered shelter, Friary. These keycards are programmed to permit the dispense of up to three...
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...The Homeless in United States: Root of problems, and solutions Imagine feeling lost and not knowing what to do or where to go. We spend each night in the musty weather on a bench, which you call your bed. As you wake up to the chattering noises each morning you decide which public place will allow you to clean yourself up. When you get hungry, you beg people for change to eat a cheap meal or you search the nearest garbage can. For the rest of the day you sit in the city hoping people will notice you and want to help out. Knowing that you are not judged by whom you are but what you are, you realize that most people in society do not understand homelessness, and wonder if the circumstances in homelessness will ever change. Every day in cities and towns across the country, men, women, and children dressed in rags walk the streets, often talking to visions and begging for money. However, many causes are the problems to the homelessness which have theirs impact on children and people should think about finding solutions for the homeless. Homelessness is the condition of people without a regular dwelling. According to National Alliance to End Homelessness, 578,424 peoples were experiencing homelessness in 2014 (2015). There are several circumstances that can cause individuals to repeatedly end up on streets. First, poverty is a difficult one to break. Once an individual falls below a certain income level...
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...Defining the Homelessness as a Social Problem It is estimated that in 2009 1.56 million Americans were homeless at some point. (2011 back on my feet) Most do not have health insurance of any sort, and none have cash to pay for medical care. Homeless people are concentrated in the nation's urban centers and are dispersed throughout rural America, frequently not near the health care facilities that they need. They don't have transportation or real control over their daily lives, since they depend on the routines of shelters, soup kitchens and marginal jobs to meet their most basic survival needs and are social discards. Interactional sociologists would say that the homeless population as a whole is ostracized from higher socio-economic groups because of some actual exchanges (which often discourage or offend the homeless person) that occur between homeless individuals and those in literally any other economic class considered to be better off than the homeless individual. Furthermore, some interactional sociologists would point to the reluctance among some employers to hire individuals who do not possess any physical address and likely lack any academic or prior employment experience. This often-reality is a terrible discouragement for many in the disadvantaged economic classes (specifically the homeless, in this case), and is one factor that sometimes dissuades numbers of homeless people from even trying to seek employment in the first place. A number of obstacles a homeless...
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...Homeless speech told everyone their struggles they had in their past and how society been treating them. Homelessness been problem for Sacramento for while ,however not in this large scale we have now. David become homeless when he got layoff from his job at campbell soup,but later on things got more worse for him. First thing he lost was his House,since he couldn't pay for bills then after that he had to sleep in his car. The next mess up thing that happen to him is that police took his car away with all stuff in it. He went to police department just get his stuff back that was in car,however the police didn't really care and never give stuff back to him. When Chris first became homeless he soon to learn the true struggle of living on streets....
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...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 2014) This is one of the definitions that tries to explain this large sociological perspective based on trends or patterns and the fact that this social situation requires such a broad explanation to attempt to cover all aspects of homelessness. This explanation does show how widespread and complicated the state of being homeless is and how socially there is not one simple...
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...Homelessness is a huge social problem that is facing America as a nation today. According to Wikipedia 'Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling' (Wikipedia.(2013). Homelessness. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessnes). Homelessness has become a huge problem that looks us in the face daily and is putting a large number of children, teenagers,women and our elderly at risk daily. It impacts our society negatively. According to National Alliance to end Homelessness, '82 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in the United States.Of that number, 239,403 are people in families, and 394,379 are individuals. Slightly fewer than 16 percent of the homeless population are considered "chronically homeless,"and About 13 percent of homeless adults- 62,619 - are veterans. '(National alliance to End Homelessness.(2013). Snapshot of homelessness. Retrieved from http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/snapshot_of_homelessness)'. Some of the causes of homelessness and the extent homelessness affects our society today are as follows- Domestic violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness in the U.S. Statisctics show that in 2008 28% of families where homeless in the united states due to domestic violence.(National Homeless Organization.(2013). Domestic Violence and Homelessness . Retrived from www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/domestic). Over the years our society has seen a surge in violence largely due to media...
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...intended to be used as a nighttime residence (temporary or permanent) i.e. places like public parks, bus stops, subways, streets, etc. So this concludes our definition of Homeless. Now we shall take a look at some statistics obtained through reliable national data sources. Speaking broadly, people face homelessness because they cannot afford suitable housing. In fact, homelessness is clearly visible in urban areas of the country, where people lag enough resources to meet their housing requirements and eventually end up homeless. Homelessness can attributed to lack of money, higher living costs, scarcity of economic residence, etc. Moreover, data gathered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, through point-in-time count shows that; a) There are 610,042 people facing the problem of homelessness on any given night in America[2] i.e. almost 19 people in 10,000 will be suffering from Homelessness. b) Of these homeless people, 222,197 are with families whereas; the remaining 387,845 are individuals [2]. How Do People End Up Homeless? The data gathered by the “National Alliance to End Homelessness” gives us a quick view of the reason behind homelessness. The report [3] suggests, families usually end up homeless because of some unpredicted mishap or a financial crisis, some major accidents, death of a family member, or...
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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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...most ignore. In an age that questions whose problem the homeless population is, controversies arise over who should be taking care of these people. Homelessness is not a new concept in America. Having been around for over a century, the past few decades has become exceptionally worse. Homelessness is not something that is easily defined. Alex K. Rich and Geraldine Wagner tell their readers that most who study the problem of homelessness define the issue as “those who are forced to sleep in places not designated for sleeping.” Jennifer Bringle defines the homeless as people who do not have a “fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence” (4). However defined, the fact that they do not have a permanent residence is only the beginning of the problem. Although there are many controversies today surrounding the problem of homelessness and whether the government is responsible or not, the nation as a whole should take responsibility and work collectively to strive for an end to the problem. To some the way to end homelessness means leaving the change up to the homeless themselves. Critics today focus on the idea that people are homeless because of their own actions. In Ted Gottfried’s book Homeless: Whose Problem Is It, Ronald Reagan is quoted as saying, “The homeless . . . are homeless, you might say, by choice” (50). Also quoted in Gottfried’s book, radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, says that the nation’s homelessness is “tied to a lack of personal responsibility...
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...November 17, 2014 Homelessness: Its Roots and Implications Everybody has been in touch with homelessness in America in one way or another. Either by looking at homeless people on the streets while driving home, or in a more unfortunate way, by dealing with it personally or knowing someone who deals with homelessness. It is clear that homelessness is a multifactorial problem, and its ramifications and consequences go beyond the simple fact of not having a home to call our own. Homelessness seems to affect more some segments of the population and some ethnic backgrounds more than others. With such facts, we can ask: what is the origin of homelessness? How someone becomes homeless? What can we do, as a society, to fight homelessness? And more importantly, why the strategies designed to fight homelessness are not working as effectively as expected? Considering the fact that hundreds of thousands of people are homeless and millions more at risk, as moderate estimates tell, the problem is clearly worse than we would like to think. There are clearly understood circumstances that create homelessness in America. Now “it is generally believed that the increase incidence of homelessness in the US has arisen from broad societal factors”, and economist and sociologists have found that homelessness is directly related to “changes in the institutionalization of the mentally ill, increases in drug addiction and alcohol usage, etc” (Quigley and Raphael). Another problem is that there is no...
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...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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...Running head: HOMELESSNESS Homelessness in America Victoria M. Williams SOC 331, Social Justice & Ethics Cari Lynn Beecham-Bautista, Instructor November 23, 2015 HOMELESSNESS Homelessness in America Homelessness is a multifaceted social problem that is difficult for America to solve. Over the past three decades, there has been an increase in the homeless population in America (“Opening Doors Plan,” 2015). Even when America’s economy is progressing, there is still a high number of citizens who are facing homelessness (“Opening Doors Plan,” 2015). A lack of federal financial assistance, fragmented services and the difficulties in accessing these services have played a major role in hampering the solution to this social problem (“Opening Doors Plan,” 2015). As a result, these factors have necessitated a shift in federal, state and local policies to end homelessness. America has learned that homelessness can no longer be viewed as a short-term crisis where an abundance of emergency shelters can solve the problem. The demand for emergency shelters has always exceeded the supply for them. In order for justice to occur, there is an urgent need for more preventive measures and long-term solutions to end this problem. Homeless individuals and families are a vulnerable population whose rights have to be protected. A just response to America’s homeless problem has to include prohibition of criminalization laws, permanent housing with supportive...
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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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...EFFECTS OF HOMELESSNESS OUTLINE THESIS: According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ recent survey of homelessness in twenty-three cities, homelessness is one of the most persistent problems that U.S. citizens have faced in recent times. Many factors have been diagnosed as the causes of homelessness. Advanced research done by many students and organizations have however proven that domestic violence, lack of affordable decent housing, and unemployment are the main causes of homelessness among people. These causes and their corresponding effects tend to make people miserable for most parts of their lives. I. Homelessness A. Increased rate in this problem B. Examples of situations of homelessness C. Main causes of this dilemma II. Domestic violence as one of the main causes of homelessness A. Various forms of domestic violence B. Main victims of this demeaning act C. Effects on domestic violence on victims III. Lack of decent, affordable housing as a contributing factor A. Continuous increase in rent as a main reason for this situation B. Eviction of tenants due to inability to afford rent C. The Impact of unaffordable housing on citizens IV. Unemployment as a major cause of homelessness. A. Rate of unemployment in our society B. The contribution of unemployment to the problem of homelessness C. Consequences of natural disasters on victims V. Conclusion A. Consequences of homelessness in the lives of people B. Possible solutions to the problem of homelessness ...
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...Criminalization of Homelessness in America SOC 331: Social Justice and Ethics April 6, 2015 Criminalization of Homelessness in America Every country faces homelessness in one form or another. Homelessness in America has been an ongoing problem over many decade. Homelessness is not racist or biased as anyone can find themselves without the financial means to provide adequate shelter and food. While there are many definitions for homelessness the most common is “a person who "lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence” (www.pbs.org). Those who are susceptible to homelessness consist of but not limited to children, teenagers, adult men and woman, veterans, mentally unstable and elderly people. Homelessness is not just the problem that the homeless person faces but the problem that we all as citizens of the United States face ethically, morally with the proper forms of justice. Throughout this paper we are asked to evaluate different perspective and responses in regards to the American problem of homelessness. In doing so virtue ethics, distributive, commutative and retributive justices will be used in evaluating the responses. ‘Virtue ethics is an ethical theory that evaluates the morality of the person doing a given act, rather than the act itself. Virtue ethics thus emphasizes that the various virtues and whether a person reflects those virtues in his or her actions are crucial to moral evaluation” (Mosser, 2010). The text book Social and Criminal Justice...
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