...Homelessness in America Tonight, across America, as many as 3.5 million people will not have a safe place to go to sleep. The homeless will be sleeping out in the cold, on a park bench or in the gutter. The lucky ones may be sleeping in a shelter tonight. These so called shelters are sometimes even more dangerous because they are frequently over-crowded and understaffed. But the real question is, in the land of opportunity, where the typical family has more televisions than family members and an average of two cars, why are there so many citizens on the street, struggling to survive from day to day? How are so many people, fellow human beings, sleeping on sidewalks, begging for spare change, and digging through garbage cans just to find food to eat? While the general impression is that the homeless are primarily alcoholics and drug abusers, more than half the homeless are families with children. The vast majority of these have been thrust into homelessness by a life altering event or series of events that were unexpected and unplanned for. There are many reasons these unfortunate individuals are seen living on the streets of our cities. Homelessness is caused by tragic life occurrences like the loss of loved ones, job loss, domestic violence, and divorce. Other impairments such as depression, untreated mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and physical disabilities are also responsible for a large portion of the homeless. Many factors push people into living on...
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...Homelessness Homeless people are seen on the streets very often, especially in big cities. It is seen so often that people do not really take a minute to think about it. Is homelessness really a big issue in America? It does not affect the lives of fortunate people, so it does not matter to them, but the issue is bigger than what it seems. Imagine not having food, shelter, or new clothes to change into every day. What about sitting on the streets all day begging for money or even a bite of food, but instead people walk by not even paying attention? Does not sound found, does it? Well imagine that, but instead it was a child. A child who no longer has a home, family who can afford to take care of them, or any way of getting help. People do...
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...Homelessness in America Homelessness in America is a social problem that we are faced with on a daily basis. Despite the vast number of research done by Americans on homelessness, little is still known about the effect that it has on our society. The overall image that emerges from the effects of homeless people is negative: they’re seen as lazy, drug users, alcoholics, and worthless. This study recovers some of the homelessness perspective for an American audience through research, data, and an interview by a homeless person living in Georgia. This study will allow explanations and will challenge three widely held assumptions of the homeless people living in America: 1) Homeless people are lazy; 2) Homeless people are all drug and alcohol users and abusers; 3) Homeless people brought it on themselves. This research is to add nuance to our understanding about the social problem stated. Homelessness qualifies as a “social problem” because it doesn’t just affect the homeless but the nation as well. This paper will hopefully contribute more knowledge and understanding about the effects of homelessness in America. There has been a plethora of research done on homelessness in America since the 1980’s, but there has been changing quality and has left areas uninvestigated. According to Ravenhill (2011), In 2000 there was a survey done by researchers...
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...Homelessness HSM/240 March 14, 2010 CHRISTINE COX Introduction Think about all the obstacles which you had to overcome in your life time. What if you awoke one day and your bed was a box and you where not able to took a shower, had to wear the same cloths, had nothing to eat, and didn’t know what you where going to do to survive that day. Simple needs in which we often take for granted on a regular basis and the privileges in which many individuals in the United States disregard because we have everything at our disposal. There are many people living among us who don’t have the command essentials to survive, but many homeless individuals face these ordeals daily and their life’s as they knew it has been replaced with false hope and broken dreams. There are far too many of our citizens within this country we call home living on the streets without a place to call home. Wearing only the cloths on their backs; eating out of the trash, stealing, and at times prostitution, and all because they have no one to reach out or no place to turn for help. Homelessness The dilemma of homelessness is an issue in our society that is largely ignored. It seems as if the problem of homelessness is invisible to many and at times hardly noticed. When people do recognize individuals who are homeless they automatically view them as beggars who need to go get a job or someone who uses drugs and mentally ill people who are beyond help. However...
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...which provide services to homeless people. Goldade, Kate. Homeless Former Smokers’ Interest in helping Homeless Current Smokers Quit. Minnesota: American Journal of Health Promotion, 2012 Goldade purpose is to describe factors that associate with interest of homeless former smokers in helping homeless smokers quit. She discusses how to start saving money you would need to stop buying cigarettes and use that money to provide for yourself. Hopper, Kim. Reckoning with Homelessness. New York: Cornell University Press, 2003. Hopper draws on his strengths as an anthropologist and advocates providing a deeper understanding of the roots of being homeless and on the streets. Hopper tells the largely neglected story of homelessness among African Americans and vividly portrays various sites of public homelessness, such as airports. Hurley, Jennifer A. The homeless: opposing viewpoints. San Diego Calif: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Hurley starts off of how serious homeless is for society. She discusses how homelessness affects cities, rural communities, women and children and many more. She expresses that the hardcore homeless should be arrested and put behind bars. Jarrett, Christian. Helping the homeless Psychologist Vol. 23, 2010. Jarrett examines the psychology’s response to social problems that can be related to people who are homeless. He identifies how when people who end up with absolutely nothing are able to get back up and on their feet again. Jencks, Christopher. The Homeless...
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...Homelessness 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...
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...proximity to the city center of San Diego, and as you travel further from the city center some of these factors compound and become more prevalent, having even greater attribution to homelessness. Situated just 4.2 miles from the city center is a community called North Park where many of its residents have seen their community parks and playgrounds taken over by an ever-growing homeless population. Resident have even gone as far as contacting the local news stations and city council members about this growing concern. These concerns are being echoed by residents in communities in and around the San Diego area to include: The Gaslamp District, Hillcrest, Balboa Park, and City Heights where they too are seeing an influx in...
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...Homelessness and how it affects children Lewana Streeter Introduction Homelessness and poverty are ongoing issues that have existed for many years. Poverty has always been with us. But in the United States, poverty emerged as a political issues about 50 years ago (Dinitto, 2011). Along with poverty come many issues such as homelessness and going without food and clothing. These are basic necessities that everyone needs to survive. Also with poverty comes poor education. Usually the poorer the education the more likely an individual is to fall into poverty. One of the main issues with poverty is defining it. How do we know who are faced with poverty and homelessness, if poverty is not able to be defined? History of Poverty Many think that poverty will diminish over time (Dinittto, 2011). However, if there is a continued decline of education for women it is safe to believe that poverty and homelessness will continue to be a social policy issue. Poverty affects men women and children. Unfortunately, children are affected the most because they are the most vulnerable. Families are left without homes, jobs or the means to support their families. These same children are left without food or adequate clothing. And this has been the issue for years and years. Poverty as a political issue only came to light in the last 50 years (Dinitto, 2011). More Education Educating more women seems like a reliable alternative to homelessness and poverty. Is it reasonable to say the more...
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...Reducing World Poverty and Homelessness Inskip Rochford Professor: John Hilston Economic Problems and Issues 05/01/2011 Reducing World Poverty and Homelessness Reducing poverty has become a major concern of development policy. To inform policy, research on poverty has focused on income or consumption based poverty measures. Yet it is now increasingly realized that poverty is multidimensional, encompassing all important human requirements. Poverty is now widely viewed in terms of capability deprivation (Kakwani, 2006). The income approach views poverty simply as lack of income (or consumption). Poverty exists when some persons in the society have so little income that they cannot satisfy socially defined basic needs. But lack of income is not the only kind of deprivation people may suffer. Indeed, people can suffer acute deprivation in many aspects of life, beyond those defined as basic needs, even if they possess adequate command over commodities (for example, ill health or lack of education and so on). The conceptual distinction between deprivation of this kind and that primarily resulting from inadequacy of income is of fundamental importance (Kakwani, 2006). The higher a person’s income the greater is his or her command over commodities. The possession and consumption of commodities (including services) provides people with the means to lead a better life. However, possession of commodities is only a means to an end. As Sen (1985) points out “ultimately, the focus...
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...How do personal problems intertwine with public issues? In this paper I am going to talk about how personal problems intertwine with public issues. The example I am going to use is homelessness. I am going to talk about all the different types of homelessness, the causes of homelessness, and also examples of homelessness I see around me every day. I will also talk about my personal experiences in this subject I have dealt with in my own life. For many years now homelessness has been an issue not only in the United States, but around the world. No matter if you are living on the streets, in a shelter, or even in assisted housing of some kind, it is defined as being homeless. According to Jeanty (1999), “The National Coalition for the homeless showed a population of 30,000 to 7,000,000 homeless people in the United States as of 1995”. The reasons for becoming homeless vary from working low wage jobs, not being able to receive public assistance, and even having mental health issues. But the real main issue that causes a person to be homeless mostly is poverty. According to Jeaty(1999), there are also theories that say that personal problems cause homelessness such as: not wanting to work, excessive substance abuse, and poor money management skills. Also growing up many could have been struggling all there life and they don’t know any other way to live, but in the low income branch of living. Many may be uneducated where they can’t get a great job to support their family...
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...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, it becomes more and more difficult to acquire the resources needed to get a better job. So poverty can lead to lack of affordable housing and lack of affordable healthcare. An example is people who have some kind of chronic and weakening disease but cannot...
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...HomelessnessHow to improve Homelessness IntroductionHomelessness is not new to our nation, and it has greatly increased over the past ten years. (Baum, 1-4) For growing numbers of people, work provides little, if any, protection against homelessness. Low national un-employment levels do not mean that all working people are well-off. (Baum, 21-24)What is homelessness? According to the definition stated by Stewart B. McKinney, for purposes of the 1987 McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, “a homeless person (homelessness) is one who lacks a fixed permanent nighttime residence, or whose nighttime residence is a temporary shelter, welfare hotel, or any public or private place not designed as sleeping accommodations for human beings.” (Baum, 8) A rather deceptive definition when one considers the fact that homelessness is not a natural state, but one created and maintained by political agendas.Our government is not doing all that it can to combat our nation’s homelessness.In 1987, the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act was put into law. (Burger, 68-83) However, our government has moved away from the need to address the causes of homelessness. Instead our government has focused on the individual responsibility of those who become homeless, blaming their misfortune as their own fault. (Baum, 5-9) It is this belief that has helped to increase the homelessness of our nation, and it is this belief that will continue to do so if our government does not take a closer and more realistic look at...
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...Picture This: A Snapshot of Homelessness David Mello HCA430: Special Populations Instructor: Monica Vargas May 2, 2015 Picture This A Snapshot of Homelessness Imagine if you will, for one moment, a reflection of your daily life. For most, it began like any other day; you awoke from your warm and comfortable bed, showered, chose your outfit for the day, ate breakfast, and then went to work or school. As the day came to end, after earning a solid days wage, you went home to a nice warm dinner ready on the table, a bed with fresh linens awaited your tired and heavy eyes, and for the rest of the evening and into the night you slept on a pillow of dreams. This is in essence the American dream is it not? To have the basic needs that to some may come as a surprise, many Americans do not have. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, “In January 2014, there were 578,424 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in the United States” (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2015). Many people would be in agreement that the above noted agenda is fairly normal; shelter, food, clothing, education, and family are all blessings and amenities that we take for granted but nonetheless are things that every individual deserves to have. Unfortunately, these are things that many people must suffer without. Scholarly research that spans over the course of two decades has continually and firmly established the emergence and persistence of indigent and homeless...
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...homeless veterans are not being served well at all. If the homeless veterans were properly cared for by our country, the total homeless population would fall by more than 40 percent over night. Homeless services would then have sufficient funding to move many of the rest of the homeless off the streets into transitional housing with services that bring them back into the working population. It would be a dream come true. If only our country would step up to the plate, homelessness in our country would be virtually eliminated. If only…. Lets Summarize the Homeless Veteran Situation. 750,000 total homeless count in U.S 400,000 veterans are homeless at some time in a year 200,000 veterans homeless in any one night 27% of our male U.S. population are veterans but 43% of all homeless males are veterans – why? 7688 beds funded by the VA for homeless veterans 192,312 sleeping elsewhere – shelters, grates, creek beds, back alleys. We have Heroes sleeping on sidewalks in every big city. The VA says homelessness is not related to military service, but Veterans are twice as likely to be homeless than civilians. We may think that homeless veterans served poorly in military, but: 95% of homeless vets have honorable discharges. The VA claims it has the largest network of homeless assistance programs in the country, but: Total VA funding is only $1.37 per homeless vet per day.VA funded beds provide for only 1 of every 26 homeless vets.VA funds only 7688 beds for 200,000 homeless veterans...
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...children of the next generation are living in today’s society homeless and starving, because there family is taking money away from one bill to pay the other bill. In 2009 the number of people that are living in poverty was the largest in 51 years. The poverty rate and the number in poverty increased across all types of families: married-couple families (5.8 percent and 3.4 million in 2009 from 5.5 percent and 3.3 million in 2008); female-householder-with-no-husband-present families (29.9 percent and 4.4 million in 2009 from 28.7 percent and 4.2 million in 2008) and for male-householder-no-wife-present families (16.9 percent and 942,000 in 2009 from 13.8 percent and 723,000 in 2008)(U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).The National Center on Family Homelessness released a new report in...
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