...Advocate for the Homeless Advocacy is about assisting people in speaking up for themselves and making sure that their ideas and opinions are heard and understood. An advocate should avoid conflicts of interests with the people who give services to the person that he is assisting. The advocate should stand up for the person as if he is standing up for himself. The group of people for who I would advocate for are the homeless. It's estimated that approximately 3.5 million people in the United States, 1.35 million of them children (nearly 40%), are likely to experience homelessness this year. In addition, incidence of homelessness has increased over the past 20 years, and these numbers are only going to get larger as time goes on when economic pressure, job loss, and the rising cost of living are factored in. People experiencing homelessness need a voice. In Washington State there are many organizations that work with and help the homeless population. There are many services provided by the different organizations. Shelters provide homeless people with a valuable place to sleep advocacy coalition’s work behind the scenes to fight civil rights abuses and hate crimes committed against homeless people. Advocates are the voice of homeless people, they routinely meet with homeless individuals to find out what the most pressing needs in the community are and then work on finding solutions to those problems. Activists advocate for homeless people in many ways...
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...Homeless Veterans Homeless Veterans, we see them everywhere and we always want to stop and donate but we never have time or no money ourselves. Should we spare a penny or two for them? The homeless veterans you see on the street did a favor for us by serving for our country and we should thank them and take two seconds out of our day to spare a few cents to make their day better. Homeless Veterans are common all around the United States. The percentage of homeless veterans go up when you're in a big city but have you thought of the percentage of homeless people in small towns. You seem them on street corners with their cardboard sign asking for help you look over and see them standing there. Take a second to help them. Even if it's a quarter it could make a...
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...Movie In every society, there is inequality. There are people that have better education, more power, and more money than other (Macionis, 2010). Social stratification ranks people in different categories based on social class. It is much like the feudal system in Europe where you are born into Nobility. The movie Trading Places shows the differences in social class. Trading Places is a movie about an upper class commodities broker, Louis Winthorpe, and a homeless street hustler, Billy Ray Valentine, whose live cross paths when they are unknowingly become a part of a huge bet. Mortimer and Randolph Duke, the owners of the commodities company where Louis Winthorpe worked, are responsible for putting the elaborate plan together to switch places with the two of them. The bet was that neither one of them would be able to function outside of their normal elements and lifestyles. Louis Winthorpe came from high society and was well educated. He also looked down upon those who were less fortunate than himself. Billy Valentine was an uneducated homeless hustler from the streets. He spent his time trying to get quick money through schemes and crime. He wanted to live like Winthorpe. Throughout the entire, Winthorpe got to experience how it felt to be poor. He was subjected to drugs, prostitution, jail and a theft. It gave him a chance to see how it felt to be on the lower end. He saw how he treated other people. Valentine on the other hand got to experience the good life...
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...increasing at a large rate and is an issue for today’s society. Although there are a lot of people in this situation such as our middle class who was once in place of good standing now face homelessness in alarming numbers across the country. Homelessness can affect your community economically, socially and politically while causing concerns in the area of public safety and cost of living as a whole. This paper takes a look at the reasons there is homelessness in our society today and the things we together can do to get this situation in control to help those who need it most. When we look at homeless people we as a society always want to make an assumption of people who are homeless not knowing the underlying reason that cause people to be in this situation in the first place such as economic strife of losing their job after working for a company for 20 years or more and being replaced with someone who is younger. Homelessness means a person having no shelter of their own or a name on a lease. Even though there are studies that say that homelessness is because of drug abuse, depression and other disorders and that is a choice there are several other factors that contribute to people being homeless like the wars, unemployment, foreclosures and the break up of families all play an important part as to why people find themselves on the streets. There are a lot of veterans who are homeless and have to live off the state for help with food stamps and other assistance, but a...
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...the end of my first semester, I understood the Charm City Circulator as a cheap public transportation option that everyone knew was cheap because of the people who used it. Feeding into this mentality,...
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...Social Marginality On March 9, 2017 I became homeless for a few hours. I stood at the corner of a convenient store. I was dressed in some old torn up clothes that had holes all over the place. My hair was all knotted up full of dirt from napping on the ground. I was filthy. Dirt was all over my skin and I smelled horrible. While standing on the corner at the store I was holding cardboard that I found in the garbage. I then went inside and asked for a marker to write Homeless will work for money, food, and shelter. The reaction of people were different: some gave me their spare change out their pockets, others gave me food. There were a fair share of people that just look my way and kept on going. I had...
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...There in the streets on the highways asking for money because they're homeless due to numerous circumstances. The money that they do get from strangers they may but to good use like buying clothes or food or maybe bus fare to go home. Some don’t they use it to buy drugs and alcohol leading them back to their original dead end path. Which is why people should feel obligated to be compassionate toward those less fortunate because there homeless for numerous amount of circumstances. Helping those less fortunate than us can help us progress as a society and you never it could happen to you without even wanting it to happen. We live in the society that only advanced after we adopted disciplined beliefs in helping others. If we did not, we would decay, ruined by personal rivalry and obsession about our own well being. Those that can't help themselves can receive help and in turn, that can empower them to help others, and so everyone standing and livelihood improves. In the text, it states, “ Homelessness had changed her perception of the world and her place in it” (Author 3). This quote better explains how after being homeless herself Rita now has a motivation to help others that have been in the same situation as her. There’s a time for the struggle for everyone at some...
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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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... Abstract With all of the money that our country has as a whole, why do we have so many homeless people? In fact, this is a very good question for our society. You would think that more people may be more reluctant to help those in need a little more, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Homelessness is one of the biggest social issues that we face as a society this day in age. We can’t simply state that the reasoning for homelessness is due to laziness or lack of work. This has to be looked into deeply, because as we all should know this can happen to anyone in a matter of a small amount of time. Although our society as a whole may not care too much about this issue, the Church does and is sometimes more willing to help the poor than a multimillionaire walking around buying expensive cars that they don’t even drive. When applying the class conflict theory to homelessness, it can be understood that capitalism is part of the blame for homelessness. Keywords: homelessness, class conflict theory, social issues, society Homelessness, and the Church Many people often think that homeless people choose the life that they are living, but this is not at all true. Some people may be dealing with mental issues that caused them to lose their jobs, they may have faced foreclosure on their home from being sick or losing a spouse. It is not always someone’s fault for ending up homeless. Everyone is always one step away from homelessness, unless you happen to have a large bank...
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...All of a sudden the ground you're standing on starts to rumble. You see the ground start to break apart. The year was 1905 and a massive earthquake with a 7.8 magnitude hit the city of San Francisco 3,000 people died . (USGS).The San Francisco earthquake in 1905 was a terrible tragedy. 25,000 buildings burned,and killed between 450 and 700 people, lastly damage estimates topped $350,000,000.(A Brief Account of the Facts). Also a lot of people were found homeless “Finally, after three days the fire burned itself out and rain began to fall. Several camps were set up on the outskirts of the city for the estimated 250,000 homeless” (A Brief Account of the Facts). This shows how the earthquake in 1905 brought great tragedies and difficulties...
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...Sometimes, it's just the smallest actions that can make the biggest changes in life. I felt amazing for what I had just did. After grabbing a meal at a fast food place, we quickly ate almost everything. There was one burger left, but none of us were hungry enough to want it. There was a homeless man standing on the sidewalk hoping for enough to pay for his dinner, but none of the passing drivers were interested in giving out anything. It was night and he only had light clothing on, I fail to imagine how miserable it must be. I told my dad to drive over to the homeless man, he reluctantly agreed. I handed over the still warm burger and a smile instantly came to the man's face. He thanked me heavily and left to enjoy his meal. It felt great...
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...about the woman’s character is revealed. The opening sequence shows many homeless people in the station but the woman noticeably ignores them. Next, a hurried man bumps into the woman, causing her purse to fall to the ground. He attempts to help her gather the items, but she snaps at him, shoves her items into her purse, and runs to her train. Of course, she misses it. Through all this it is obvious that the woman does not feel comfortable or safe. She seems to be a wealthy woman, obviously nervous to be in the station alone. She also is very suspicious of people around her. Finally, there are underlying racial issues. The man who bumps into her in the station and causes her bag to drop is black. He is dressed in a business suit and clearly wants to help her. She reacts as if her were trying to steal from her. Later while standing on the platform, the woman realizes that her wallet is missing. She decides to get some lunch to bide her time. She picks up a salad and pays for it with some spare change she is carrying because she lost her wallet. She finds a table, puts her shopping bags down, and goes back for a fork. When she returns, a homeless man is sitting at what she believes is her booth. He is eating her salad. Again, this is where the story builds itself well. She had to have lost her wallet in order for this to make sense. She cannot go buy another salad now so she begins to eat off the homeless man’s plate. He shows her hospitality by buying her a cup of coffee. Of course...
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...A Day in the Life of a Homeless person Sleeping on the streets everyday under a tree or on the cold streets, nowhere to go, is a terrible way to alive. But one of the biggest tragedies of not having a home is that the homeless are treated like outcasts, as if they are no longer human being. But I was a human back then, maybe not a clean one. I knew that I did not smell because I had put on some deodorant I found it on the street and brushed my teeth. I admit that my hair was wild and knotted, because I used my finger to brush it, and there was a lot of holes and stains on my clothes. Every day out there, I had to struggle just to find something as simple as food, and if I didn’t find, I eat from the trash cans. That time there was a lot of fights in the location of the trash, you know, with other homeless people, They are just like me, they walk around all day long, thinking how to survive just one day. Sitting in the streets begging for money, while the people passing by looking at you like you is some sort of an animal. But I didn’t hope that a passerby would offer me a hand, that would be a waste of my valuable time. Instead I tried to pass my time with go into the library reading book, that didn’t always go good , I got kicked a few times. I was begging in the park after getting kicked out of the library, a old lady gave me 5 dollars, that’s a lot money for me, I promised myself that if I see that old lady I will thank her. 5 dollars that was enough for getting some food...
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...Homeless Family Strategy: A Policy Evaluation Modern Public Administration Professor W. H. Roberts The case at hand addresses the crisis of homelessness in Seattle. Mayor Schell attempts to tackle the problem and makes a pledge to end the epidemic that he may or may not be able to keep. Specifically, the mayor pledges in June that by Christmas 1998 there will not be homeless women or children living on the streets of his cities (Electronic Hallway). This pledge garnered mass attention as it was run on both local newspapers and televised. Homelessness is robust in nature and scope and takes more than a pledge and good will to eliminate. It may not be within his realm of possibility either fiscally or logistically to accomplish what he pledges. Listening in the audience is the Director of the Community Services Division of the Department of Housing and Human Services, Alan Painter. Painter has over ten years of experience in planning and putting into action a variety of programs targeted at helping the of homeless. He agrees with the mayor’s assessment of the homeless situation, the need to eliminate the problem and applauds the mayor’s fervor. He is however, skeptical that such a feat can be accomplished and wonders how this pledge will mess or clash with the cities standard procedures for handling the homeless. The mayor’s pledge in effect puts Painter on the hot seat, so to speak in that he must devise a strategic plan to essentially make...
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...Homeless Assignment When I think of the homeless I think of those who are less fortunate, meaning not able to provide the necessities of life for themselves and/or families. These necessities include food, drink, clothes and shelter. Of course, when I was younger, I was very afraid of the homeless because they fit the description of a stranger explained by my parents. I was, as I’m sure everyone has been told when they were little how not to talk to strangers. Therefore, I associated homeless people with bad people that I should not talk to and this became the stereotype. Through the years, I begin to place the homeless into categories. What I mean by this is, as I grew up I stop seeing the “typical” homeless person simply walking the streets or standing in front of a store, restaurant or gas station asking for help. Instead they had began to hold signs near a busy intersection that would give a brief description of who they were and why they were in this position. One may have been a retired factory worker out of a job or a divorced parent who had lost everything. Then there was the old “will work for food” sign that never saw a job because when offered they just asked for money instead. Therefore I began to associate the homeless with “normal” people who had faced some difficult circumstances in their life. If normal people could get through it then why couldn’t the homeless. Because I asked myself this question, the homeless in my opinion had...
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