At this moment in time there is a homeless person in a shelter shivering due to freezing temperatures, surrounded by diseases, and in an unsafe environment. The living conditions of the shelters are significant issue because they are intended to help the inhabitants strive, not worsen the scenario. In many cases the homeless will go to shelters seeking help, but will find the uncleanliness of the shelter, people that have had previous federal offenses surrounding them, and basic human needs withheld. It is necessary to improve the living conditions in order to bring more people out of homelessness and improve their quality of life. The current living conditions within homeless hotels-shelters impact the health, safety, and quality of life of …show more content…
Uncleanliness encases the shelters leading to detrimental health issues for the inhabitants. Occupants will often find themselves in situations where people are doing drugs in various rooms, used syringes are found on the floor, bathrooms are unkept, and standard health code violations are not met. There are an abundance of diseases that travel around the shelters some of those being sex transmitted and airborne. In many cases the shelters are nearly unliveable with walls peeling leading to a occupants becoming “ill from lead paint poisoning” (Kozol 37). Lead is a common ingredient in paint due to its inexpensiveness, but can be easily contracted and poses a threat towards the people around it. The uncleanliness of the shelters lead to a “considerable cockroach and rodent population” (Kozol 34). Rodents carry dozens of diseases that are potentially harmful towards the inhabitants, some of these diseases can lead to death. …show more content…
Many of the homeless will escape the streets to find safety, but instead they will end up in harm's way due to some of the fellow inhabitants. A majority of the homeless that end up in shelters are dealing with mental illnesses, drug, and alcohol addictions, prostitution, rape charges, assault charges, etc. This poses a threat towards not only the safety of the children but inferior women and men that call the shelters home. Children are often exposed to new things far beyond their years many times there will be “homeless children playing in corridors while, twenty feet away, prostitutes, and clients take turns waiting to make use of the same room” (Kozol 111-112). Prostitution is illegal and by having children exposed to it they are being set up for failure. Also children being around illegal actions and violence will often put the them in unsafe positions. There are other forms of the lack of safety in the shelters those being that there are “so many people, trash piled around… there's no fire escape outside this window” (Kozol 54). The lack of fire escapes and “trash piled” is a fire hazard because it would be nearly impossible to get out of the building fast enough especially on higher floors in the case of an emergency. There was an incident in Paris, Texas when “five men died when fire and smoke swept through a homeless shelter.” The fire had “started near a pile of
Homelessness is a social issue that has been overlooked for too long. It can be observed in many states worldwide. The rising population of homeless people affects those characterized as homeless, their families subjected to the lifestyle, and the communities where homelessness exists. There are many solutions but only a few will be discussed. Improving existing shelters and building new shelters are general solutions. More in depth solutions within the shelters include programs that assist the homeless with opportunities for re-entry into the community. I would first like to discuss reasons why this issue should be looked into and conclude with recommendations.
The idea of homelessness is not an effortlessly characterized term. While the normal individual comprehends the essential thought of vagrancy, analysts in the sociological field have connected conflicting definitions to the idea of homelessness, justifiably so as the thought includes a measurement more exhaustive than a peculiar meaning of a single person without living arrangement. Homelessness embodies a continuum running from the nonappearance of a changeless safe house to poor living courses of action and lodging conditions. As per Wolch et al. (1988), homelessness is not an unexpected experience rather it is the zenith of a long procedure of investment hardship, disconnection, and social disengagement that has influenced a singular or family. Furthermore, states of vagrancy may come in fluctuating structures, for example, road habitation, makeshift home in safe houses, or help from administration associations, for example, soup kitchens and the Salvation Army. Homeless is characterized as those regularly poor and, once in a while, rationally sick individuals who are unable to uphold a spot to live and, subsequently, regularly may rest in boulevards, parks, and so forth (Kenyon 1991).
I have heard stories from my friends that are horrible, especially considering they were all under 18 during these events within their lives. Therefore, I believe the homeless youth in our community need more attention due to their age and lack of confidence. For example, my boyfriend Alex was homeless when we started dating. All of his siblings were taken away separately from child services due to abuse, addiction and neglect within his family. He lived in a shelter where teens were using drugs, stealing and some were even into prostitution. I do understand that not all shelters are this way, but in his experience, he has lived in three different ones and all of them had some of these factors within them. I used to believe there were many options for the homeless, especially teenagers, but from my own second-hand experiences there are really not that many alternatives. “Sometimes it is safer to sleep on the street than some homeless shelters we came across”, suggests Alex Black, a former homeless youth. These shelters can be horrifying to the point that many teens, including Alex, run away. Society looks down on the homeless, creating a barrier surrounding our social structure, placing them at the bottom. Many people in our community believe it is not their place to help, some just are selfish or look the other way and keep on walking.“Whoever closes
Food is the most important thing to survive, but for homeless, it takes miracle to find food even for a day. Some people got food from begging on the street or buy food by the money they received. Others find food in unfortunate places; trashcan, picking it on the road, or eat others’ leftover. Even if there are chances of getting food from, some also starve and even lead to death. Because of food being so hard to find, 57% homeless spends at least a day being starve (“Statics” 2). For not receiving food and not eating regularly, it affects health conditions. They become sick easily. Once homeless gets sick, it is not easy to get back on track because they do not have anybody that take care of them. While the population of homeless increase, the death rate of homeless people also increase.
Homelessness in the United States has been an important subject that the government needs to turn its attention to. There has been announced in the news that the number of the homeless people in many major cities in the United States has been increasing enormously. According to United States Interagency Council on Homelessness reported that there was an estimation of 83,170 individuals have experienced chronic homelessness on the streets of the United States’ streets and shelters on only a single night of January 2015, which is a small decrease of only 1% from the previous year (People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness, n.d.). The United States must consider this subject that most of the people underestimate it and not pay attention
“3.5 million people will experience homelessness in a given year,”(Los Angeles Homeless Services). This shocking number is one of the sad truths in today’s society. Homelessness is caused by a wide range of things including financial issues. The life of a homeless person is hard and comes with set-backs and the constant need to overcome them. Homeless people go through many challenges in surviving without a home. They can suffer from health issues, hunger, and poor emotional well-being.
Children should not have to go through any of that. It is quite unbelievable but “HIV rates for homeless people are three to nine times higher than report rates for competitive samples in the US. A study across four cities found a prevalence of two point three percent for homeless youth under twenty five” (“eleven facts about homeless”). “Two million and two hundred thousand children die each year due to the fact they do not become immunized. Fifteen million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS” according to Snah. The HIV rates for homeless children are not good. The rate needs to go down. Out of all the runaway youths, over forty percent have been abandoned by their parents. Also, over forty percent have been beaten by their parents (“eleven facts about homeless”). It is proven children with homeless mothers are more likely to stay with them than if their father had been homeless (“Homeless”). Almost half of runaways happen when they have been abandoned or
Homelessness can happen to anyone unexpectedly. Many poor people are at the risk of homelessness. The cost of living and trying to find affordable housing can be very difficult. Many who are homeless are in poverty, have a mental illness, or addictions. Homelessness happens from personal, as well as structural factors. Many aren’t able to make enough for rent, as well as, utilities, food, and other expenses each month. More than 6 million Americans pay more than half of their income towards rent (Reamer, 1989). The trend is once someone becomes homeless, it is likely they will be homeless repeatedly. To end homelessness, affordable housing will have to be created because it is peoples largest single expenditure (Anderson, 2013).
Homelessness is a problem that happens in many different countries around the world. Definitions of homelessness are defined in different meanings by different people. However, the Stewart B. McKinney Act defines a homeless person as “ 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” (McNamara 1025). It is impossible to find out exactly the number of homeless; however, the researchers can do a study to estimate that number. Based on different statistics from different researchers, the homeless population in America has been increasing as “an alarming rate” (Markos and Lima). Therefore, even though America is one of the most powerful countries in the world, homelessness, which has many common causes, has always been a big problem in society.
It is estimated that, “each year, more than 3 million people experience homelessness, including 1.3 million children” (NLCHP). Clearly poverty and Homelessness come hand in hand, and the economy downfall has only contributed to this growing crisis. “Homelessness stems from a lack of affordable housing. Increasing rents, destruction of traditional low-income housing, and cuts in federal housing programs threaten affordable housing with extinction” (NLCHP). Most people in poverty have a housing affordability crisis, which means that they pay more than half of their income for rent, so therefore they have to buffer to deal with unforeseen expenses. This indicates a constantly struggle financially therefore anything such as an accident, sick child, or loss of employment could tip you over the edge. Some including factors that contrib...
Homelessness is a vast predicament in America and around the world. It is severely overlooked as people don’t really think of homelessness as real world problem. However, there have been ways that people have tried to fix the problem. They have come up with homeless shelters, emergency shelters, food banks and soup kitchens. These solutions have limitations though, which will hopefully come to an end.
Over the years it has become a national common characteristic of the entire nation. Not only does homelessness effect an individual’s health and well- being, but it effects society as a whole. Due to the fact that many people who are without shelter or everyday necessities tend to be looked upon as thieves, and criminals who are labeled as sick and mentally ill. Many states who claim majority to be men. It is documented that 1/3rd of the homeless population has been issued to suffer from some sort of mental illness. According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration mental illness was ruled as the third largest root to homelessness for many single adults. The hypothesis was conclude after a survey was collected in 2008, it showed that in 25 cities around 1/8th of cities claim that mental illness is ranked to be the peak to homelessness and 38 % suffer from alcohol and numbers increase when it comes to alcohol abuse. In most case these single adults who suffer from mental illness are not able to maintain house hold management. Those who are of urban landscape show a greater number of homeless who reside in that current state. That means that there are roughly around 62.9 % of people who suffer from mental health are documented for treatment and out of that percentage around 26 % mental individual make of the individuals staying in shelters and the rest of the individuals find themselves partaking in the street life. And then there are those who go
There are about 3.5 million people in America alone that are homeless; half of these people are children between the ages of 10-17. Neglect, Physical, and Sexual abuse are some reasons most teens are on the streets. 20% of children every year are experiencing physical and emotional neglect by their parents, families, and best friends. They feel as if their not appreciated, wanted, or even loved. Most teens feel like they would be better without their parents and decide to run away. The crime rates are outrageous on the street! As a result, 5000 teens die every year due to high risk anxiety, depressions, post traumatic stress, and disorders. The growth of homelessness was increasing 8.5% per month each year. Causing the Government to loose over 4 million dollars. Lots of teens are often beaten and raped everyday. The majority are female. 96% of females on the streets are often fatherless and easily taken advantage of by older and younger men. Because they are fatherless, they don’t know how to be treated, and allow men to beat and have unconsensual sex with them. For awhile these teen girls feel like these men are doing this out of love and care, until the beatings and forced relations get WORSE! When these teens find a way to escape from their abusive relationships, they find themselves on the street selling their bodies for survival. Studies show that 3 out of 4 female teens under the age of 15 are forced into prostitution while living on the streets. These teens deal with the risk of kidnapping, Aids and STDs. According to the justice system of missing persons, 1 out of 4 teens are abducted everyday trying to steal, trespass, and sell their bodies. Living on the streets and catching viruses and Aids is commonly fo...
Homelessness is descriptive condition of someone without a permanent or regular dwelling. Homeless people most often are not in a position to acquire as well as maintain a safe, regular, and adequate housing. Being that one of the most fundamental human needs is shelter, it is important and health for every human to at least acquire one. Unfortunately, it is becoming rather a difficulty to own a home in the current century given the economic recessions frequently occurring in almost globally. Although the legal definitions for homelessness may vary from country to country, the central idea includes people whose primary nighttime residence could be a homeless shelter, a domestic violence shelter, cardboard boxes or ad hoc housing circumstances. They could also be people who take shelter at night in a private or public place that is not primarily designed or suitable for use as a regular sleeping housing for humans.
Homelessness is a problem virtually every society suffers from. There are many things that cause people to become homeless, such as unemployment, relationship problems, and being evicted from ones domicile either by a landlord, friend or even a family member. However, with every cause there must be an effect. Some of the effects of one becoming homeless, besides the obvious change of lifestyle, are various health problems which often times may lead to death.