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Homelessness cause and effects
Solutions for homelessness
Solutions for homelessness
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The number of homeless citizens and government unwillingness to provide assistance proves to be a persistent problem in the world today. In Michigan alone, there are 86,189 people striving to live without a home (HMIS, 1,2016). With this glaring statistic being presented, this pervasive issue continues to plague the city; as there are very few initiatives being implemented to reduce the homeless population. Due to their situations, these victims often take up nomadic lifestyles in search of temporary shelters, consequently putting their health and well being at high risk when weather conditions are harsh or when they’ve entered unknown areas. Without the proper care and shelter, victims have no means of survival, which far too often, leads …show more content…
This being said, non-profit organizations such as the Salvation Army and Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries should become more present in housing the homeless and providing resources to enable independent living. In doing this, the homeless population will not only decreases, but also become self-reliant and help to stimulate the economy.
Although one specific cause of homelessness within Detroit cannot be pinpointed, there are four main areas in particular that have shown to be the greatest contributors to the increased homeless population. According to the Homeless Action Network of Detroit, these four main causes include eviction, no affordable housing, domestic violence, and job loss. 2 Eviction refers to individuals, or families, that are forced out of their homes due to several reasons including lack of payment,
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They offer housing, counseling and rehabilitation, and job opportunities in order to assist and decrease the growing population of homeless individuals and families. Although they offer housing, food, treatments and various other resources to the people of the community, due to the number of individuals and families suffering from homelessness in Detroit, DRMM cannot compare or end the growing problem because they provide free of charge services and do not have the resources to fulfill the needs of every individual in the city of Detroit. 22 Unlike the Salvation Army, DRMM is able to have greater long term, as well as short term effects, due to the fact that they also assist individuals to find jobs and have a greater reliance on one’s self. Capuchin Day Centre is also an organization created to assist the homeless and it also revolves around faith. The organization is inspired by St. Francis who is known as the father of the poor. The mission statement of Capuchin Day Centre is, “Inspired by the spirit of the St.Francis of Assisi, we at the Capuchin Day Centre welcome people in need of food aid who have no home or are socially excluded and respecting their dignity, provide a caring, pastoral, holistic and non-judgmental service response to their needs.” 23 Similar to the other nonprofit organizations, Capuchin suffers from the lack of
the cost of living in Toronto has come to a record high, we need to start doing something about it now before no one can afford to live at all. There are more than 30,000 women, men and children in the city's homeless shelters annually. Many of thousands more sleep on the streets or considered the “hidden homeless”. About 70,000 households are on Toronto’s social housing waiting list and on the brink of becoming homeless because of the skyrocketing prices of owning a home in Toronto. The Federal Government and the province have begun a slow reinvestment in housing in past years, the number of affordable housing being built now doesn’t even compare near the levels of the early 1980’s. Habitat for Humanity has been building houses for low income
Shelters, however, only represent a small percentage of homeless individuals. Hidden homeless persons, the largest percentage of the homeless (Gerdes, 2007), are people who live in cars, abandoned buildings, family or friends, and often with strangers (Jencks, 1994)). An official estimate was released by the National Secretariat who estimated that there were 150,000 Canadians who were homeless (Think Student Canada, 2009). However, this estimate was mostly based on shelters. Most organizations and groups estimate a larger number of 250,000 homeless Canadians including hidden homeless individuals (Echenber & Jensen, 2005). This paper examines the importance, causes and solutions to a problem of such critical importance and suggests that the government must fund a variety of long-term solutions to aid and rehabilitate homeless persons in order to end this social concern.
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
Although most people know what homelessness is and it occurs in most societies, it is important to define because the forces of displacement vary greatly, along with the arrangement and meaning of the resulting transient state. The Stewart B McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 defined a homeless person as “an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence or a person who resides in a shelter, welfare hotel, transitional program or place not ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation, such as streets, cars, movie theaters, abandoned buildings, etc.” Resent surveys conducted in the U.S. have confirmed that the homeless population in America is extremely diverse and includes representatives from all segments of society, including: the old and young, men and women, single people and families, city dwellers and rural residents, whites and people of color, employed and unemployed, able workers and people with serious health problems. The diversity among people that are homeless reflects how difficult it is to generalize the causes of homelessness and the needs of homeless people. Robert Rosenheck M.D., the author of Special Populations of Homeless Americans, explains the importance of studying homelessness based on subgroups, “each subgroup [of homeless people] has unique service needs and identifying these needs is critical for program planning and design.” Despite these diversities, homelessness is a devastating situation for all that experience it. Not only have homeless people lost their dwelling, but they have also lost their safety, privacy, control, and domestic comfort.
With the rising number of homeless rising every night it is becoming harder for the shelters to house them since they do not have enough space or resources available to help. Since 2013 there has not been a new report done to count how many homeless people are living in Phoenix, but one thing that is known is that an “anticipated 250 families in Maricopa County are homeless every night”(Taylor ). There are currently 13 shelters that house the homeless each night in Phoenix, AZ, many of them not only provide housing but also “services such as alcohol and drug rehab treatment along with clinics’ (Phoenix Homeless Shelters & Services for the Needy.) Though the shelters do provide some help there is not enough of them to provide the assistance and housing needed to help the homeless. The number of shelters is not enough and more need to be built with proper staffing and resources to help keep the homeless people out of the unforgiving Phoenix heat and possible death. If
This great nation of awesome power and abundant resources is losing the battle against homelessness. The casualties can be seen on the street corners of every city in American holding an ?I will work for food? sign. Homeless shelters and rescue missions are at full capacity. There is no room at the inn for the nation?s indigent. Anyone who has studied this issue understands that homelessness is a complex problem. Communities continue to struggle with this socio-economic problem while attempting to understand its causes and implement solutions. The public and private sectors of this country are making a difference in the lives of the homeless by addressing the issues of housing, poverty and education.
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.
Homelessness is one of the biggest issues society (Unites States) faces today. Homelessness is caused by lack of affordable housing, economic situations and decline in federal funding for low income families and the mentally ill. A homeless person is defined as an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family) including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private (shelters) facility that provides temporary living accommodations and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing. This definition of housing is used by the U.S Department of Healt...
With nearly 3.18 million people in the United States, there are 610.042 individuals who are homeless which calculates to about nearly one in five individuals (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014 and HUD/US, 2013). At any time situations can change that can render an individual’s homeless. There are no qualities that exempt individuals from the chances of becoming homeless. However, there are certain predispositions and characteristics that can predict the likelihood of becoming homeless. Homelessness can be contributed to a number of situations such as occupational stress, financial stress, mental health issues, substance use, gender, age, race, disabilities, incarceration, chronic illness, and family stress.
According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors (2008) there are several key factors that cause homelessness and they differ between families and single adults. For families, the causes are lack of affordable housing, poverty, unemployment, low-paying jobs, domestic violence, mental illness and substance abuse. For single adults the causes are substance abuse, lack of affordable housing, mental illness, poverty, unemployment, and low-paying jobs. The top things needed to combat homelessness is more housing for people with disabilities, better paying employment opportunities, and more substance abuse services.
The economic component of the homelessness situation can be broken down into two interrelated parts: housing affordability and a low income rate. The economic recession that followed the financial crisis of 2007 left many individuals unemployed during a time that saw a spike in the price of housing. So not only did the cost of living increase, the rate of income also decreased accordingly. Unsurprisingly, during these same years homelessness rose from 24.2 percent in 2007 to 29.4 percent in 2009 (citation).
Homelessness has become a serious problem in today’s society. Despite the organizations that help multitudes of homeless people, homelessness is continually increasing. In recent years, America’s culture has been changing due to economic, political, and social issues. These issues have caused a lot of stress on America resulting in abject poverty in several cities. Poverty is not nationwide, but if dealt with lightly, the affects can be catastrophic. Homelessness is increasing more than ever, and research proves that changing culture contributes to rising amount of homelessness.
...At its root, homelessness is the result of the inability to afford and maintain housing. Government funding should be put into place that can incorporate an investment in creating affordable housing. This includes supportive housing, which is permanent housing coupled with supportive services. In order to maintain housing, people exiting homelessness must have income. Cash assistance programs are available through federal and state government, and career-based employment services can help formerly homeless people build the skills necessary to increase their income. Mainstream services, including the Workforce Investment Act, should be used for this purpose (Ten Essentials). Lastly, programs must ensure that the homeless have access to these services but are able to attain independence as soon as possible as well. To do this there must be instant access to housing.
People should help the homeless by aiding them with healthcare, housing, and childcare. Homelessness is not a new trend and is growing more everyday. Homeless people should not be different from anyone else when it comes to getting a helping hand.
However, Affordable housing is another option that is highly needed. There is such a need for homeless people to think of having a roommate to reduce the cost of living expenses. As passing out cardboard boxes was a proactive suggestion in the brainstorming, in reality it is a temporary process that homeless people do utilize to create shelter. Other ways to increase resources may be to provide money management courses to the people while in high school. Providing job training to gain skills that will earn sufficient earnings to allow them to afford their housing