Being homelessness is abigger problem in many cities then what people would like to admit. Manyfamilies are homeless not because they want to be like everyone wants to say. It’sbecause life can come with unfortunate circumstances such as job layoffs and unemploymentbenefits. Then there are families that are employed, working hard every day andnight, but still is not earning enough to support their families or themselvesto provide a stable residence.
Which people just end up resorting to not payingrent, as a result, the families end up receiving eviction and not having a roofabove their head for the time being. After getting evicted, either families cannotobtain affordable housing under the low-income status or can’t afford therenter’s market, which therefore they unwillingly become homeless. People areleft between a rock and a hard place to figure out what their next move isgoing to be after the devastation of losing their home. Baum says,” Homelessness is not new to our nation, and it has greatly increased over thepast ten years” (Baum 1-4). Overtime more people experience a sense ofhomelessness due to multiple reasons. This position puts people in anuncomfortable setting because it forces them to think quick on their feet aboutthe next decision they should make in regard to their living situation.
Inaddition, people with children have a greater weight on their shoulders becausenow it’s not only the adult who has to worry about themselves but for a childas well who’s depending on the adult to take care of them. There are twodifferent perspectives that the adult and child goes through during thehardship of being homelessness. The adult point of view is thinking about whatcan they possibly due to make things seem like they aren’t as bad for thechild. The adult is trying to keep it together for the sake of the child andcreate a fictional illusion for the child to think that there is nothing wrong. However, on the other hand the child point of view is scattered in a million ofpieces trying to put together a puzzle. The child point of view is experiencingsome type of change but doesn’t know why or what for. The child has questionsbut doesn’t really know how to ask them because they’re unsure of the wholesituation itself.
It’s a sense of consciousness that they are aware of butcan’t figure out the whole picture because all of the information is notpresented to them. The information that the child doesn’t have in order tounderstand the full picture is overwhelming and difficult to process at achild’s level because it’s not common for a child to understand such a highlevel social problem like homelessness. The child doesn’t have enough lifeexperience to grasp the complicated idea behind homelessness. Moreover, Baum says” For growing numbers of people, work provides little, if any, protectionagainst homelessness. Low national unemployment levels do not mean that allworking people are well-off” (Baum, 21-24) to highlight the fact that justbecause a person has a job doesn’t mean they are fulfilled enough with takingcare of their needs. People today are still experiencing a sense of strugglewith their family because the money that they are making are just getting themby. Often times when articles or new directors state how national unemploymentlevels are low they don’t bring into consideration that those specific peopleare struggling with their family because of the low education they have.
Education and money earned plays hand in hand with each other as time goes on. The more education a person has, the likely chance that their income is hightoo. People who continue to work at a job after several years without a raiseor no promotion are people with low education. Not having a degree puts peoplein a stagnant position because they’re not able to have the freedom to makeother important decisions that would benefit their family.
Having a degreemakes situations in life more manageable for a person to obtain because itdemands a sense of attention that people are eager to notice. Earning a degreeact as a safety net for a person to have a strong foundation when put out intothe world of finding a job. Being able to show jobs and companies the skillsset a person managed to obtain and complete in college earns respect.
Withrespect that is earned puts people in a different category compared to thosewho don’t earn a degree. Baum displays the problem in which articles or mediaput out in the world to make others think change is being done but in reality, there is still work that needs to be taken into consideration. Without a degreepeople are not given an option to be able to decide how they want to handle asituation because most people do not listen to what they have to say if thedegree isn’t presented. For example, most listings for jobs today currentlyrequire work experience, a high school diploma and most likely a bachelor’sdegree to even apply so people who don’t have all three of those things arelimited in a sense of having any direction as to where to go and earn a living. Just because a person has a job doesn’t mean that, that person has all of itsneeds balanced with their income. Because of recent pastyears there has been an unstable economy with high unemployment rates, whichhas made homelessness rise at an alarming rate.
With homelessness being at itsworse in some areas of the United States. Now with only offering jobs that areno longer secure, results into fewer benefits for the workers and their familymembers. The United States was experiencing the worst financial crisis sincethe Great Depression, which has really changed everything. Families nowcomprise a major segment of the homeless population. According to theDepartment of Housing and Urban Development’s 2013 Annual Homeless AssessmentReport, 222, 197 people with families were homeless for a single night in 2013, accounting for 36 percent of all homeless people counted.
This shows howserious homelessness is and how it affected people just in a one day period. With the report given by the “ Department of Housing and Urban Development” shows how homelessness could be temporary and long-term due to specific reasonsthat a person/family go through. Families who were homeless on a single nightdisplayed a large number of people, no reason in particular were givenreportedly by the Development of Housing and Urban because they wanted to pointout the importance of how homeless is worry in which people should be awareabout and figure what things need to be done in order to help people. Figuringthe next steps as to what should be taken to make a difference for people whoare experiencing homeless or who have will put things in perspective as to whythis social problem is happening. Showing people what some of the things theyneed to do in order to avoid homelessness could prevent others from being inthat situation. Preventing things from happening in the future could save a lottime and money that way it could be used to help with a bigger issue.
Notifyingpeople as to what they should do in order to get their income and earningsstable being informed are important factors that are necessary for people tounderstand. Creating a difference like this would make impactful things inothers life because then they could go out and inform others of how they gotthrough the hardship of homeless. Getting this situation handled and outlinedcreates a focus in which people need to pay attention to in a sense that wouldsupply a need of change. So well reading thenational coalition for the homeless, I came to read that in 1967, workersearning minimum wage year-round where they were paid just enough to raise afamily of three with being above the poverty level. Then in 1981-1990 the costof living went up by 48%, as minimum wage stayed $3.
35 an hour. It takes awhole six years in 1996 for congress to raise minimum wage to $5. 15 an hour, for the next eleven years minimum wage stayed at rate of $5. 15 an hour. ThenPresident Bush in 2007, signed a law that would increase minimum wage to $7. 25over a two-year time span. That increase was not keeping up with the inflationin the past 20 years.
The actual value of minimum wage is 26% less than in1979, which in turn is only $4. 42 dollars. In our current economy, a full-timeworker is working 40 hours a week. Which means that it’s just not cut it, forpeople. In 1987, the McKinneyHomeless Assistance Act was put into law. (Burger, 68-83) But our government doesnot even want to address the causes of homelessness, but instead focused on theindividual responsibility of those who become homeless, and blaming theirmisfortune as their own fault.
(Baum, 5-9). Which is true if our government really focused or really care somethingwould have already change, with push more programs and making business highermore people in the states, which has helped to increase the homelessness in ournation, and this will continue. If our government does not take a closer andmore realistic look at the causes behind homelessness in our nation, andcommits to ending homelessness through public education, policy advocacy, andtechnical assistance. By putting the necessary solutions to combat homelessnessit will become a national disaster for the United States. The causes ofhomelessness not only include issues with financial stability but it can alsolay behind serious health conditions and the lack of proper care and effort.
Aphysical or behavioral situation or any long-term disabling condition may leadto homelessness; homelessness itself can lead to long-lasting medicalconditions. A person can become homeless when his or her health conditionbecomes disabling and stable housing is very hard to maintain without help. Peopleliving in shelters are more than twice as likely to have a disability comparedto most people. On a given night in 2015, roughly 18 percent of the homelesspopulation reported having a serious mental illness or conditions related tolong-lasting dangerous over-use of drugs. Conditions such as disease whereblood sugar swings wildly, heart disease, are found at high rates among thehomeless population, sometimes three to six times higher than that of mostpeople. People who have mental health and drug use sicknesses/problems and whoare homeless are more likely to have immediate, life-threatening physicalsicknesses and live in dangerous conditions. Also, more than 10 percent ofpeople many have mental health treatment in our public health system arehomeless.
Let’s contribute to thesolution, becoming a part of the solution to build shelters to help endhomelessness in America can bring us together as a nation. When housing is aplatform, people with a substance abuse disorder, families with financialdisabilities and or citizens with health issues who are experiencinghomelessness have the opportunity to engage in treatment fully without theadditional stress of living on the streets. Housing stability is a keycontributor to long-term recovery and reduces relapse for people who arehomeless.
For chronically homeless people, the intervention of permanentsupportive housing provides stable housing coupled with supportive services asneeded – a cost-effective solution to homelessness for those with the mostsevere health, mental health and substance abuse challenges. Those who are homeless facesignificant obstacles to finding and maintaining employment. Finding a home isan essential first step.
Job training and placement programs, such as thosefunded by the federal government, also provide the tools some people need tosecure stable, long-term employment. Improving access to supportive services, such as childcare services and transportation assistance, would also go a longway in helping people stay employed, achieve housing stability and remainhoused.