Week 1 journal

The Problem of Homelessness in the US (Journal Entry) Homelessness has been, since very long back, a critical problem in the United s. This problem, despite being so vital, has often been neglected and overlooked. The severity of the problem has many a time been suppressed by the public myths and legal issues related to the homeless people. But the issue recently came to the forefront of international news following the death of four homeless men owing to hypothermia in San Jose, California. The news caught the attention of the government, the non-governmental organisations, social welfare agencies, shelter homes, non-profit institutions and private entities. The death of the four poor men, namely Daniel Brillhart, Enrique Rubio and Daniel Moore, has ignited the minds of the Americans and compelled them to ponder over this intricate problem that had existed since long in the country and especially in California.
The various news agencies have covered the issue in their columns and drawn our attention towards the personal life and history of the four persons. All four of them reportedly were men of good social and moral character. Though deprived of social status or recognition in society, they were god-fearing men who worked sincerely to make a living. Each one of them had a family and some relatives. They had lived a very happy and productive life before they abandoned their homes and joined the homeless population of the nation. They supposedly left their homes and families owing to adverse financial circumstances or social abandonment or drug-issues. They finally landed up in the encampments across San Francisco and took up a job to meet the basic needs of life- food, clothes and a temporary shelter. This story applies not only to those four deceased men, but to the entire homeless population of the US. Driven by financial deprivation and societal seclusion, these people escape from homes and families, to ultimately join the already overcrowded encampments of the homeless in the Silicon Valley. They live their lives as nameless, faceless and identity-less individuals who put up with the drudgeries of daily life to barely make sustenance. Despite the presence of a network of numerous shelter homes in the country, hundreds of homeless people die every year due to extreme cold. They live and die in a world of anonymity and isolation.
To help them get rid of their homeless condition, the government should allocate sufficient resources for building up permanent housing facilities for these people. This would include the allocation of both financial resources and land for implementing housing projects. This should be coupled with attempts to discard the myths associated with homelessness. A well-spread myth is that the homeless people are unwilling to leave their encampments and shift to permanent housings or shelters. Another presumption is that this problem will gradually find a solution to itself without anybody’s intervention. The remedy for homelessness lies not only in the physical measures to ensure homes for the homeless, but also in a change of attitude towards the homeless. So the effective solution to this problem would entail a reform in government policies as well as an attitudinal reform in the society.
REFERENCES:
Loving, Jennifer. ” Homeless in Silicon Valley: Solving crisis is possible, if we let go of myths and harness the valleys resources”. MercuryNews. com. N. p., 9 Dec. 2013. Web. Retrieved 11 Jan 2014
Mercury News Editorial Board. ” Best way to help the homeless? Support affordable housing”. MercuryNews. com. N. p., 10 Dec. 2013. Web. Retrieved 11 Jan 2014
Newman, Bruce. ” Homeless in Wealthy San Jose: The Lives of Three Men Who Died, Shivering and Alone, in Cold Snap.” MercuryNews. com. N. p., 18 Dec. 2013. Web. Retrieved 11 Jan 2014
Rogers, Paul. ” Homeless shelters had open beds when homeless men died of exposure in Santa Clara County”. MercuryNews. com. N. p., 7 Dec. 2013. Web. Retrieved 11 Jan 2014