WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT HOMELESSNESS
It doesn’t matter what city or town you visit in this country, at some point you have seen a homeless person. In most major cities, the downtown area has many homeless people walking around, and sometimes asking for money. When you see the homeless, it may make you feel uncomfortable. Some may question how these people allowed themselves to come to the point of homelessness. We rationalize our negative attitudes toward the homeless by saying “they are probably drug addicts or alcoholics, so they brought this situation on themselves.” There are probably a number of homeless people who are addicts of some kind, but the homeless also consists of families. Families like yours and mine who had a job loss, family illness, or some sort of misfortune that led to their homelessness. Many of the homeless are single mothers who have jobs, but don’t make enough in wages to afford a home for their children. There is a reason why people are faced with homelessness.
HOMELESSNESS BY THE NUMBERS
According to the United States Housing and Urban Development:
ISSUES THE HOMELESS FACE
When people become homeless, the first thing they attempt to do is find shelter. They will most likely attempt to get into a local homeless shelter. We might think that it is an easy task to show up at a shelter, and you will have a place to rest your head for a while, but this is just not the case in most cities across the country. There is an availability issue in most homeless shelters, and if you are fortunate enough to find a shelter that is available, there could be a nominal fee. There are people that may not be able to afford the fee. There is also the issue of the safety of some of these homeless shelters. You have people from all walks of life staying at these shelters. You may have people with drug addictions, undocumented child predators, people with mental illnesses staying at these shelters. Another issue homeless people face when considering staying at a shelter is the health concerns. Some shelters are not very clean, and you may have to deal with a number of insect infestations, and people with communicable diseases, but if you are homeless, your only alternative is to live on the street. This option is just as dangerous because you may face being assaulted, robbed, even murdered when you live on the street. You also have to contend with inclement weather. One reason why you see so many homeless people on the streets during the day is because a lot of shelters force the homeless out of the shelter during the day, and allow them to return at night. Finding shelter is no easy task if you become homeless.
The issue of homelessness is a serious one, and it affects everyone because not one of us knows what could happen in our future that could lead us to being homeless. This is why it is so important that we should all care about this issue, and do what we can to bring awareness to the plight of the homeless.
WHAT IS BEING DONE TO HELP THE HOMELESS
There is an independent agency called the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). This agency has teamed up with 19 federal agencies, state and local governments, advocates, service providers, and people who are homeless to achieve goals set out to prevent and end homelessness.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness works on the legislative side of the issues of the homeless. This organization advocates for improved federal policies to combat this issue.
There are many organizations and individuals fighting every day to prevent and end homelessness. Although, there has been some progress in recent years, there is still a lot of work to do. We all need to care about the homeless mothers, fathers and children who are sleeping on the streets every night as we sleep in our comfortable beds. We should care because you or someone you know could become homeless. I am sure there are people who are homeless today that had a comfortable life at one time too. They never thought it could happen to them.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
If you are interested in doing your part to help the homeless, look up the homeless organizations in your city and offer to donate money or your time to help. There are also national organizations that you can contact to see what kind of help is needed. You might be able to donate toiletries or clothes to some of the organizations. Whatever little bit you can do to help will be appreciated. The one thing we all should do is to bring awareness to this issue by writing letters to your Congressmen or Senators about this issue. You may feel you are so far removed from this issue, but you never know what can happen in life.
IF YOU ARE HOMELESS AND NEED HELP CLICK LINKS BELOW:
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/homeless
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/
Sources:
https://www.onecpd.info/resources/documents/2012AHAR_PITestimates.pdf
http://www.naeh.org/
HOMELESSNESS BY THE NUMBERS
According to the United States Housing and Urban Development:
- In January, 2012, there were 633,782 homeless people on a single night in the United States. Sixty-two percent were individuals, and 38% were persons in a family.
- Five states accounted for nearly half of the nation’s total homeless. Those states were California (20.7%), New York (11.0%), Florida (8.7%), Texas (5.4%), and Georgia (3.2%).
- In 2012, there were 62,619 homeless veterans on a single night.
- Two-thirds of homeless people were in shelters on a single night in 2012, and one third of homeless people were unsheltered.
- Since 2011, the states with the highest increases in homelessness were New York (increased 9.6%), Colorado (increased 10.9%), Missouri (increased 13.9%), Ohio (increased 7.3%), and Massachusetts (increased 5.0%).
ISSUES THE HOMELESS FACE
When people become homeless, the first thing they attempt to do is find shelter. They will most likely attempt to get into a local homeless shelter. We might think that it is an easy task to show up at a shelter, and you will have a place to rest your head for a while, but this is just not the case in most cities across the country. There is an availability issue in most homeless shelters, and if you are fortunate enough to find a shelter that is available, there could be a nominal fee. There are people that may not be able to afford the fee. There is also the issue of the safety of some of these homeless shelters. You have people from all walks of life staying at these shelters. You may have people with drug addictions, undocumented child predators, people with mental illnesses staying at these shelters. Another issue homeless people face when considering staying at a shelter is the health concerns. Some shelters are not very clean, and you may have to deal with a number of insect infestations, and people with communicable diseases, but if you are homeless, your only alternative is to live on the street. This option is just as dangerous because you may face being assaulted, robbed, even murdered when you live on the street. You also have to contend with inclement weather. One reason why you see so many homeless people on the streets during the day is because a lot of shelters force the homeless out of the shelter during the day, and allow them to return at night. Finding shelter is no easy task if you become homeless.
The issue of homelessness is a serious one, and it affects everyone because not one of us knows what could happen in our future that could lead us to being homeless. This is why it is so important that we should all care about this issue, and do what we can to bring awareness to the plight of the homeless.
WHAT IS BEING DONE TO HELP THE HOMELESS
There is an independent agency called the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). This agency has teamed up with 19 federal agencies, state and local governments, advocates, service providers, and people who are homeless to achieve goals set out to prevent and end homelessness.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness works on the legislative side of the issues of the homeless. This organization advocates for improved federal policies to combat this issue.
There are many organizations and individuals fighting every day to prevent and end homelessness. Although, there has been some progress in recent years, there is still a lot of work to do. We all need to care about the homeless mothers, fathers and children who are sleeping on the streets every night as we sleep in our comfortable beds. We should care because you or someone you know could become homeless. I am sure there are people who are homeless today that had a comfortable life at one time too. They never thought it could happen to them.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
If you are interested in doing your part to help the homeless, look up the homeless organizations in your city and offer to donate money or your time to help. There are also national organizations that you can contact to see what kind of help is needed. You might be able to donate toiletries or clothes to some of the organizations. Whatever little bit you can do to help will be appreciated. The one thing we all should do is to bring awareness to this issue by writing letters to your Congressmen or Senators about this issue. You may feel you are so far removed from this issue, but you never know what can happen in life.
IF YOU ARE HOMELESS AND NEED HELP CLICK LINKS BELOW:
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/homeless
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/
Sources:
https://www.onecpd.info/resources/documents/2012AHAR_PITestimates.pdf
http://www.naeh.org/
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