am I? I am a 17 year old senior in high school and was asked to participate in creating and executing a community service project. My first reaction is to talk to my mother, she is very involved in the community and would have some good ideas. The one that stood out to me was doing a coat drive! Last year we did a small one that ended up providing mostly adult women’s coats. This year an organization that I’ve been a part of for four years, HOSA, is doing a coat drive and I’ve asked if I could piggy back on their project. The person in charge of the coat drive is Bailey Clark, she is the current president of HOSA. HOSA is a great organization that prepares high school students for working in the medical community after graduating. Why are …show more content…
It’s not always the tumbleweed towns that are portrayed on tv. While driving down Main Street you can see many homeless men and women from our own community. These people have very little with them, some have a backpack others have a cart that they keep their belongings in but not very many have coats and even less have warm coats that will last them through the winter. Weatherford has halfway homes and help centers for these men, women and sometimes children but many people are to prideful to go into them. In 2014 there were 19,177 homeless people in Texas, which means about 7 out of every 10,000 don’t have a place to live. Fortunately this number has decreased from 2013 where 12 out of every 10,000 people were …show more content…
In Texas alone there are 94 donation stations, and 40 of them are open for donations currently. They hold 3,000 registered coat drives each year and in their 22 years of doing this they have hosted over 20,000 coat drives total. Thanks to this organization 4 million people have been provided a coat! Their mission is to provide warm coats free of charge. They are doing pretty well in completing their mission so far. Anyone can donate on their website, $1 can buy two coats, $10 buys 20 coats and $100 can buy 200 coats for people in
Sleeping in a cramped one-room apartment with six or even seven other people, or even worse, sleeping in the gutter; these are major problems faced by millions of Americans everyday. Especially in our city of San Antonio the problems of poverty and homelessness are rampant. The poor are looked at by the middle class and upper class as second class citizens. Often times policies are made that inconvenience or even severely hurt the impoverished. Although San Antonio has several programs to help the homeless and impoverished, the city has shown time and again that it does not care as much as it should about helping the needy; even actively trying to sabotage the poor and individuals
Homelessness in America has always been an issue. There have been plans to help solve this issue in San Antonio, Texas, but it does cost local taxpayers millions. It is a tricky situation to solve because some people are innocent and have no other solution to help solve their necessitous situation. Although many people who are impoverished may not be bad, we should eradicate the chronically homeless because many of them are without a roof for their decisions or blameful addictions they can not control and is costing San Antonio’s taxpayers millions.
Just because one homeless person has committed a crime or used the money he has collected on things such as alcohol or drugs does not mean that every homeless person is going to be like that. Many homeless people are Vietnam veterans, have a mental illness, or cannot survive in this economy which we are in. I have had a few experiences with homeless people but there is one which is unforgettable. It is much like when Nathaniel Ayres begins yelling at Mr. Lopez then proceeds to apologize later on (Lopez, 258). Most homeless people do not receive aid from the government or do not receive enough aid which is why they resort to panhandling. Seeing these many homeless people shows us how well our government is doing in protecting its people.
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.
The hours I put in at the food pantry had a greater affect on me than the thrift shop. On October 16, 1999 another classmate and I were brought to the food pantry in the middle of a poor section of Lawrence. We were brought inside and I was instructed to serve salad, bread, and pickles. My heart really went out to the unfortunate people when they started coming up to me. I felt extremely bad for them. There were people of all ages. Parents with their children, wearing dirt stained clothing filled with holes that did not even fit them. A good amount of the people I had to deal with were Hispanic and very few of them were able to speak English. It was very difficult to communicate with them. The little faces of the innocent children made me really feel for them. I knew these children had insecure families and were looked at as though they were fortunate to be getting food. These young kids seemed to be very appreciative that they were able to get some food in their starving bellies.
Have you ever noticed that while you’re driving around Austin that the homeless have become a common casualty to exhibit. I know the first thing that comes to mind is, “How ridiculous, why don’t they just get a job!”It perfectly acceptable to wonder, whether your money would go towards feeding a starving stomach or a drug addiction, therefore your generosity would be put to better use through a charity foundation or simply by offering a meal. The reality is that the majority of people who are homeless are unable to work due to certain disabilities. In other words, the best response is compassion. There is only so far we can do as a community, the major change has to come from a superior source, which is why I propose that the City of Austin ought to step up and diminish this problem. The City of Austin should build more affordable housing and assistance programs because it will help reduce homelessness.
Driving around downtown Houston you may notice many people living in the streets. Many people complain about the homeless in the Houston area. This has been a problem that has been going on for quite some time. Homeless people in many cases lose everything forcing them to live in the streets. This can be caused by many factors, poverty and lack of affordable housing are the main two. As a community we can come together and find a solution to help those in need, but what can the
Homelessness must be addressed here in Oregon because as our timber economy continues to plummet, more jobs are being lost and state funding is being cut, more individuals will be taking to the streets. Oregon has already been labeled as having one of the highest homeless percentages in the United States according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness (Figures, 2). With Homelessness becoming an issue all across the United States its time Oregon took a stand to address this issue before it overflows and occupies our streets more than it already has.
My name is Victoria Kerr and I live in Fort Smith Arkansas. I live close to downtown and I know that is where most of the population of homeless is. When driving down 6th Street, going towards Garrison, I see them around there. I know that there is a Salvation Red Cross down there as well. There are also a number of Shelters that house them too. When it comes to the homeless in Fort Smith Arkansas, there can be anywhere from Seventy to Eighty men, women and even families going without shelter. When doing research on the homeless in Fort Smith Arkansas, I found that there are a number of reasons why people are homeless or without shelter here. The reasons could be that they suffer form an illness or they lost their job, they could be suffering
There are 3.5 million people in the United States who are considered homeless. (Tibbet. 2015.) The Golden State, ironically, has the highest poverty rate in the country with nearly 8.9 million of 38 million residents at or below the poverty lines. (Walters. 2014.) Nearly 20% of the nation’s homeless population resides in California. In Fresno, California, with a population of less than a million, there are over 4,247 homeless individuals being deprived of basic human rights. (Fresno State University. 2010.) They are humiliated, taunted, and degraded daily. A staggering 94% of these people are unsheltered, meaning they sleep in tents or on the street. (Tibbet. 2015.) They are not able to live in one of the very few homeless shelters in the
There are an estimated 578,424 homeless people sleeping on the streets in America on any given night (State of Homelessness). It seems to be a distant problem since most of us are not homeless, have never been homeless, or will ever be homeless. Yet the cold reality is that for many middle and lower class families they are all one paycheck away from homelessness. While my family is an upper middle class family in Idaho, we wouldn’t be able to continue to live in our house, or maintain the lifestyle we are used to if my father lost his job. Homelessness is not a far off nightmare, it is a reality that many people face or are trying to survive. In a well developed country such as America it is unacceptable that homelessness is still an issue. It is time to stop treating homeless people like they are a nuisance, and treat them as human beings who deserve the basic right of
We, Aimee Johnson and Jessie Virnig, along with Amy Wilson and Shawn Klimek, decided to try to give the homeless a little hope. The week before Christmas we went door to door and collected food for the local homeless shelter. We decided to focus on collecting food because around the Christmas season, a lot of emphasis is put on toy drives and people sometimes overlook the fact that the homeless still need to eat. In order to broaden our research, we decided to collect food from more than one group of people. We went to an average middle class neighborhood and to a college dormitory. Before we went out into the neighborhood and dorms, we prepared a thank you letter to give to everyone explaining to them who we were, to tell them that we were collecting food for the homeles...
Benjamin Franklin once wrote “God helps those who help themselves.” However, in some cases, those who want help can’t actually help themselves. This is the sad reality of the homeless. Whenever a homeless person begs for money from the ground they slept on, I look at them for mere seconds and try to figure out their story. For some it’s easy to tell how they became homeless by the way they look. For example, they could have a physical handicap that limited their mobility so they couldn’t work. Maybe they appear as if they’ve abused drugs for years. However, for the remaining homeless that I’ve encountered, their story isn’t so obvious. They could have a mental illness, or simply had bad spending habits. Whether on the way to work or school, you will probably see a homeless person. They often stink up the area they are in and aren’t a pleasant sight. Solving the homeless problem would be in everyone’s best interest because it would make New York City more safe and enjoyable.
In 1987, the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act was put into law. (Burger, 68-83) However, our government has moved away from the need to address the causes of homelessness. Instead our government has focused on the individual responsibility of those who become homeless, blaming their misfortune as their own fault. (Baum, 5-9) It is this belief that has helped to increase the homelessness of our nation, and it is this belief that will continue to do so if our government does not take a closer and more realistic look at the causes behind homelessness in our nation. Unless our government commits to ending homelessness through public education, policy advocacy, and technical assistance, homelessness will become a national disaster for the United States. Right now our government is not doing all it can towards putting into place the necessary solutions to combat homelessness. Who are/where the homeless people are many of the homeless have completed high school. Some have completed college. Some are AIDS victims, many are the elderly, many are children, some are disabled vets, some are illegal immigrants, and many of the homeless hold down full-time jobs. (Berger) They are found not only in cities, but in small towns, rural areas, and affluent suburbs. (Christian). Some even make up the “hidden homeless” (Christian), or people who are one crisis away from losing their homes for a variety of reasons, such as sudden medial emergency or unforeseen h...
To start off, you need to come up with an idea for your community service project. Try looking in books for ideas or search your community for answers. Ask yourself, "What could my community benefit from?" Is there something your past family could have benefited from if someone has implement a community service project for them? If you are a club president wanting to start a community service project, ask your fellow members what ideas they have. Another source is elder care home and non profitable organizations. You could also ask those places if they need any help or if there is any community service project ideas they want someone to perform for them. Is there a certain concern you have for your community and would like to help out? You can always do something someone has don before and continue their project. These are all things to help you think of an idea. There are so many places you can look in order to find an idea. The ideas are innumerable and there is always someplace and someone who needs help.