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Summary: The Problem Of Homelessness

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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 …show more content…
In the many ways homeless people are often degraded, giving them a keycard and access to necessities provides for a piece of their humanity to be returned. Regardless of how someone ends up homeless, it is irrefutable that no human deserves to go without bare necessities. While shelters often allocate these necessities, they are generally only distributing goods at certain times each day. With a community vending machine, these necessities would be accessible 24/7, opening up time for homeless people to acquire a job without worrying about missing the designated time for their daily rations. Starting a community vending machine would also provide for volunteer opportunities for UT students looking to do what they can to aid the problem of homelessness prevalent in Austin. A community vending machine would make helping out as effortless as donating approved goods, or volunteering to help sort the

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