Arlene Beale is a single mother of two whose eviction problems never seem to end. Arleen is under-employed, most likely from lack of education and does not receive any financial assistance from her children's father. Looking at Arleen’s case from a Liberation Health perspective, we must realize that the problems of individuals and their families cannot be understood in isolation from the economic, political, cultural, and historical conditions which give rise to them, as mentioned by Berklin-Martinez (2014). Family and individual crisis are the products of current social, economic, and political crisis and must be looked at from a lens of the world. A social justice problem that contributes to Arleen's cycle of eviction is the fact that the housing market does not accommodate families living in poverty. Arleen's only real hope of breaking the cycle of eviction is for her to return to the housing voucher program she was once …show more content…
It would be great if she were able to enroll in the Housing Authority program but at this point it seems like an unrealistic solution to this cycle of eviction. Not only does she not have the funds to be placed back on the list but there is no grantee that she would be called because the demand for this type of housing subsidy is too high. Desmond (2016) mentioned that there is a program in the Bronx that provided legal assistance to more than thirthteen hundred families and prevented eviction in more than eighty-five percent of the cases and saved New York City shelters hundreds of thousands of dollars. Perhaps a short term goal would be for Arlene to research such non-profit agencies that could provide her assistance in her area. Arleen's long term goal could be to enhance her level of education so that she becomes more marketable and subsequently better equipped to increase her household
Her situation did not improve after that. With her monthly check reduced, she had no money left to eat and pay rent. Her landlord evicted her. She knew that he had evicted her illegally, but she could not afford to hire a lawyer to take him to court. Without her home, she had nowhere else to go. She could not afford the deposit on a new apartment, and she began to live in her car. Before long, her parking tickets quickly started to add up.
One student, Aesha, was homeless due to being physically abused by her child’s father, she spent 30 days in a temporary shelter and then was moved to an emergency assistance unit. She told The Progressive, “It was horrible’... ‘We slept on benches, and it was very crowded. I was so scared I sat on my bag and held onto the stroller day and night, from Friday to Monday.’” (635) Aesha and her son were eventually moved to a family shelter in Queens which presented problems of its own. The ordeal of being homeless had taken a toll on her and her studies. The Progressor has a quote by her saying, "I spend almost eight hours a day on the trains," she says. "I have to leave the shelter at 5:00 a.m. for the Bronx where my girlfriend watches my son for me. I get to her house around 7:00. Then I have to travel to school in Brook...
Barbara Morrison, an educated woman who grew up in a nuclear family home, their home included “[her] parents and children living in one household” (Moore& Asay, 2013). They lived in Roland Park in Baltimore Maryland. Living the “Average” lifestyle in her parents’ home she felt as if she were an outsider. Morrison decided to go to Western Maryland and pursue her collegiate education. She could not take the racism that went on in 1970 and decided to uproot her life for the better. Worcester, Massachusetts is where Morrison’s life would further take its course, she finally felt at home in this city. Morrison met her closest friend Jill who would also be an important benefactor in Barbra’s life; the first thing that she explained to Morrison was “The vast majority of people on welfare were white and lived in rural areas, not inner cities” (Morrison,2011).Morrison did not understand this until she was faced with the reality of poverty. In order to survive she needed to bring in resources, which are “anything identified to meet an existing or future need” (Moore& Asay, 2013).In Morrison’s case ...
Anna Quindlen, a celebrated novelist and winner of a Pulitzer Prize, writes “Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Kids.” The essay gives a window into life for impoverished citizens in our country and the how families struggle to survive in this system. Families are struggling just to survive with the little government assistance they receive. The quality and space in a shelter or even government provided living is atrocious and, to be frank, borderline unlivable. Quindlen describes a family of six cramped into a single bedroom, an inexcusable and terrible way to live and yet better than nothing at all (332). Children of families that have to live in situations like this grow up not knowing stability or security. Quindlen, passing on the sentiments of the children who live in these housings: “The older kids can’t wait to get out of this one” and “He’s humiliated, living here” (332). These kids are stricken by poverty and want nothing more than to have their own
The book “Breaking Night” by Liz Murray is a memoir that describes Liz Murray’s life growing up with a substance addicted mother and father. The memoir recounts Liz Murray’s struggles including taking care of her mother, who battled substance addiction and severe mental illness, truancy, and homelessness. Throughout Liz Murray’s story there were countless systems that failed her and her family. Several systems, including social services and school, could have implemented several federal, state, and local policies that could have provided assistance to Liz Murray’s family and alleviated the stress on Liz Murray that enabled her from successfully attending school on a regular basis. While reading the memoir, I was able to identify two different housing policies that could have been implemented to reduce or eliminate Liz’s risk of homelessness. The two housing policies/programs that were identified were McKinney-Vento Act and the Frank Melville Supportive Housing
Being born in a first world country gave me the chance to closely experience and aid the less fortunate. As a result, I started to develop at a young age a solid idea of what it means to be homeless, along with this idea, my compassion and sympathy towards them grew as well. Nonetheless, after reading Anna Quindlen’s essay on the homeless, my point of view on them consolidated. Quindlen’s essay starts by telling us about Ana, a homeless person she interviewed. During their talk, Ana tries to prove the author that she was somebody and not just a homeless person. Then, the author comes to the conclusion that a home is more than just a house, and sadly, it lost its meaning over time. Throughout this paper, I will analyze Quindlen’s essay by
The possibility of being homeless is scary and frustrating, and thus, the main theme of this project is to highlight the housing challenges these families face while comparing their habitations with those of majority of Americans in the 21st-century. As the film continues, audiences begin to question themselves: what stands for ‘majority of us’ and how should we address this situation? The problem is complex because it involves historical leftover, long-term racial tension, wealth inequality, and social injustice, among other
Her heart grew weaker and frightened as she began to realize that her life was about to take a new turn for the worse. Sam’s prolonged care had depleted the couple’s savings and she was two months behind in the rent. The word “eviction” was flashing in her mind like a red neon sign and it sent shivers of panic up her spine. Oh, God! What am I going to do?
developing effective policy interventions. In understanding that black women experience the highest eviction, we can look at the historical and sociological reasons black women have always been a part of a disadvantaged group. One weakness of Desmond’s research is even though the data shows that black women are overrepresented in eviction records in proportion to their representation in the general population, there was no direct connection that it was the sole reason black women were evicted.
Homelessness is increasing more every year. In fact, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, over 640,000 people experience homelessness every night. (Hunger and Homelessness in North America) By definition, the homeless are groups of people that do not have a home. They can be people who are mentally ill, unemployed, veterans, or even children born into unfortunate families. Since they have nowhere to go, the homeless usually live inside abandoned buildings, in the streets, or in makeshift homes, such as a cardboard box or homemade tent. Although some work to find a decent home, many still suffer from depression or are psychically disabled and cannot work. (Overview of Homelessness in America) These people do not choose to be homeless, instead they become homeless due to a series of unfortunate events; namely losing their source of income or becoming homeless by birth. One instance of this occurred in the life of Hazel Washington. Hazel was fleeing an abusive relationship when she moved in with her relative and his girlfriend, but she was not told about their impending eviction. Because of this, her roommates took everything she owned an...
Today in the U.S. there is a large percentage of people that are homeless. There are so many questions when one sees a homeless person, for example why doesn’t he or she get a job and get out of the streets? People that make comments like the one just made probably doesn’t really know anyone that is homeless so they do no understand what they go through. In the book “ Tell Me Who I Am,’’ Elliot Liebow tries to explain what the cost and gains are for women living in a homeless shelter.
Daughters, wives, sisters, and mothers, seek shelter from the busy streets of Los Angeles, unaware of what dangers may come their way. In Los angeles alone over 55,000 people reside on the streets, with no resources, fearing for their lives. Out of this number 31% are women. This leaves risks of rape, murder, assault, the possibilities are endless. This population of women has risen 33% in the last few years. They can't afford shelter, or to maintain an adequate lifestyle just for survival, especially those who bear children. This leaves a bigger question of how and when did women begin becoming homeless and what is the reason?
“When Lorenzo Timmons was hurt and out of work last summer, and finally ran out of money to pay the rent, he had little choice but the unthinkable: to gather his wife, daughter and whatever he could carry and move his family into a homeless shelter. The Houston Press reported in a cover story early this year that the specter of previously stable, working families falling into homelessness was becoming increasingly common in Houston -- and that there were few options for
The information provided by the National Homeless Coalition (2009) regarding “why are people homeless” confirmed my notion that the increasing struggles in our economy has resulted in an increase in homelessness. The surprising factor that I neglected to visualize was the impact it had on children and families. When people think about the homeless, they often envision older adults on the streets. It is too painful to imagine that children are on the streets without food, water, or shelter. One family that I had the chance to work together with was with a mother and her three children. She had two daughters, ages 11 and 9 and a boy who was 2 years old. She is currently without a job and lives with her mother temporarily. She is one of the fortunate ones that have family members supporting her, but there were other stories of families living in cars and streets because of no support.
Sujata. “Women’s Work, Stigma, Shelter Homes and the State”. Economic & Political Weekly, 26 January 2013.