How many times do you see a homeless person on the streets, holding up a sign describing that they need help? If you were to answer that question, you probably wouldn’t know, because we see homelessness happening every day of our lives and we lose track of how many. We live in a country where there are many opportunities and dreams but poverty plays a big role and it can lead to many reasons.
Introduction
When people see homeless people on the streets asking for money, I am sure that they would automatically think that they would need it for drugs or alcohol. I believe this because it has crossed my mind as well. As I grew older, I learned not to judge a book by its cover. To this day, I have witnessed people drinking or even smoking while holding up the sign, but I still try to help them because we don’t know what a person goes through to be in that position.
Homelessness is not always just drugs and alcohol. There are stories behind this, and therefore people have many reasons to be homeless. Homelessness in the United States is a big problem and it is sad to see people day and night in these situations but there are ways to be able to solve this.
What causes homelessness? Well, several causes contribute to this like, abuse, domestic violence, lack of affordable housing, unemployment, lack of needed services, drugs and alcohol addiction, and many more. Living in the United States is expensive, it’s hard to maintain a financially stable life with a minimum wage pay. Domestic violence also plays a big factor, a real-life situation can be a woman being treated horribly by a partner who thinks is in control, and they have no other choice, but to just leave, with no money, and clothes on their backs, since they depended on the partner. Then they are left with nowhere to go, and sometimes even with kids and with no government assistance.
The effects of homelessness can be health issues, people getting raped, and families separating from each other. Living in the cold, or in the hot can lead to personal health issues. People can easily get raped since they have nowhere to be, and at times a person can be sleeping and can be randomly assaulted, simply being outside where you don't know what dangers are out there is not a safe place to be. It’s a sad reality that not all shelters take everyone. Some shelters don’t accept certain people, for example, others don’t accept children.
Shelters are not considered a long-term solution, shelters, can sometimes lead to bad things. Sometimes, homeless people try to avoid shelters because there have been bad experiences there like violence, theft, rape, and other violent incidents. Homeless shelters in New York City had a record of 826 “violent incidents” inside the shelters. It’s hard to believe that a “safe place” which is considered a shelter, can not always be a good idea, and that’s how homeless people try to avoid it.
Affordable housing is considered a long-term solution. There are thousands of people who work and get paid minimum wage, and cutting down the price to what they can afford, can make a huge difference. If the government would consider this and look into depth then the number of homelessness people can be reduced.
Now, this can lead to a disadvantage. Not every homeless person will want to stay at home all the time. Many of them are very used to being in the streets, and some have physical and mental problems that can lead them to not stay off the streets. Analyzing this method, and overall the government providing an affordable, and long-term home can solve this situation.
Housing plays a big factor in solving homelessness but to be able to live a stable life, the government should provide services for all. Not having the attention to personal health, behavioral health, employment, and other supports can result in having people unstable. Bassuk Center on Homeless and Vulnerable Children and Youth made a report on how having services is important just as housing alone. Services can prevent homelessness in the future and can help them financially, mentally, and physical ways.
America is struggling to solve homelessness, not everyone is going to be a doctor, a lawyer, and in other top-level positions to be stable enough. For America to end homelessness all they need is higher incomes and lower housing costs. That leads people to work a minimum-wage job and those are the people who are considered to be at the highest risk of being homeless.
It is crazy to see people in the streets in very bad conditions, you see them sleeping on concrete, getting abused, with no food and water, or their medications. You’re going to think that they needed all these services but in reality, what these people needed was a higher income or a cheaper rent. America sees no improvement in getting better. The economy is creating new homeless people and the problem gets worse each day and each day it becomes harder to solve.
New York City is ranked as the number one city to have the most homeless people. They are at 78,676 of homeless people and 3,711 of them are unsheltered. New York City is the most expensive city in the United States. Living in this city comes to one hundred and twenty percent higher than the national average. This shows that the most expensive state contributes to the highest number of homeless people. Kansas City, Missouri is ranked at the lowest homeless population. It has 1,798 homeless people and 324 are unsheltered. You can see that this city is not expensive, therefore it has the lowest number of homeless people.
There has been a method that people have seen significant improvements in and it is “data” which is being used to solve homelessness. So far, three United States cities have noticed the success that data brings upon. A U.S national program which is called, “Built for Zero” uses modern investigation programming to follow the lives of homeless individuals. They enable agencies to intervene and help them in housing. It has helped 96,000 people off the streets since 2015, it includes 65,000 veterans. It has been stated that it can have a major effect by uniting organizations and giving a reasonable image of the various issues confronting the city.
Overall, homelessness is a serious matter and every day the numbers do not stop growing. These are a few ways on how we can prevent homelessness to keep growing. Evening having a group to go out and help the ones in need as a community can reduce homelessness. I have always cared about the well-being of others, even if I don’t know them personally. It breaks me to see people on the streets suffering and it is sad because this is the reality of thousands of people in the world. Researching this topic opened my eyes more and I found ways to help the community and reflect on it as well.
Bibliography
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Broom, Douglas. “How Three US Cities Are Using Data to End Homelessness.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/03/united-states-cities-using-data-to-end-homelessness/.
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Olivet, Jeff. “4 Simple Ways to End Homelessness.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 15 Feb. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/4-simple-ways-to-end-homelessness_b_58a45fe9e4b080bf74f04294.