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Housing homeless from a sociological perspective
Issue of homelessness
Housing homeless from a sociological perspective
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Homelessness
Recently on a Saturday morning while ignoring my traditional routine, I opted to make a run to my local Albertson's bakery to acquire some donuts for a nutritional family breakfast. In doing so, I swung my car into its usual parking spot as if on auto drive. I opened my door on this unusually brisk morning to witness something that shook my comfy cozy surroundings. A mother and father were standing against a jalopy of a car the color of an Olympic gold metal gone unpolished for aeons. But what I saw, past the father's cardboard sign, was a gut wrenching sight of three children peering out of the auto's open window. Although these children had uncombed hair, dirty faces and runny noses, they bore mischievous grins like any other deserving child in America. I didn't even read the sign. It didn't matter. I'd read many cardboard signs in downtown Seattle enough to know the usual request. I turned on my heel, as if on auto, not unlike my car, with a heavy heart. I lamented on what action to take, if any, in this situation I'd regrettably stumbled upon in my carefree morning where my biggest concern was the reckless breakfast I was about to feed my family.
There are certain things I expected from working in downtown Seattle: a long commute, that odorous aroma of century old buildings and dealing with the homeless in their public expression of poverty. My usual response was a defensive maneuver, ignore and walk around them on my way to work. If I was directly confronted by a transient, I would avoided any eye contact and deny assistance. This harsh policy came as a result of a mistake I once made by giving to a homeless peddler. He then issued a campaign to hound me on my walk...
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...ration.' I didn't linger on the moment. I again turned on my heel and walked to my car with my own groceries, never looking over my shoulder hoping the best for them and being very thankful that I myself was not in the possession of that father's eyes.
Today in America our urban homeless are numerous and apparent for the world to see. Our rural homeless are less fortunate and need individuals as well as public support and recognition. For we could easily be one of theme on any given day.
Works Cited
Blau, Joel. "The Visible Poor." From Community to College. Ed. Jeff Sommers and Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996. 165-74.
"Rural Homelessness." Online posting. National Coalition for the Homeless. Mar. 1999 <http://nch.ari.net/rural.htmlhttp://nch.ari.net/rural.html >.
term effects of the act were not as helpful as many had planned it to
As per the State Housing Authority, the issue and trend of homelessness has changed particularly throughout the most recent three decades. Public homelessness first turned into an issue in the 1970's and now it is normal to see individuals congregating before sanctuaries and thinking about park seats. Soup kitchens are generally stuffed to limit. Safe houses have multiplied their ability since 1993 and they dismiss individuals consistently because of absence of cots (Kenyon 1991). During 1987, Congress passed the Stewart B. Mckinney Homeless Ass...
In World War 1, British women broke through traditional roles and worked as nurses on
According to Streetwise of Street News Services (2010), the first reported instances of homelessness dates as far back as 1640, in some of the larger cities in the original 13 colonies. At this time, there were wars being fought between settlers and Native Americans, and people were left with no shelter in both sides (Street News Service, 2010). Later, the industrial revolution caused more homelessness, industrial accidents left many former hard-working families with a dead provider, or with severe disabilities, and then the economy entered a recession in the same time period (Street News Service, 2010). Wars always left a large number of veterans homeless. Later, in 1927, there was an astronomical flood along the Mississippi River, across multiple state, leaving about 1.3 million people without a home (Street News Service, 2010). Natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, the Asian tsunami in 2004, and the earthquake early this year in Japan are still a major cause of homelessness.
The homeless population is growing in America. There are more and more Americans living in boxes, sleeping on park benches and panhandling on the streets each day. These people tend to make us, the non-homeless, feel uncomfortable and unsafe. They are also placing increasing stress on the nation's economy. In short, the homeless are a burden on the rest of society.
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
In fiscal year 2006, the HUD, Department of Housing and Urban Development, was presented a budget by the Bush Administration consisting of $528.5 billion for homeless programs (Romeo 1). The problem of homelessness and extreme poverty is not a new occurrence; but in past years more extreme measures have been taken to combat the issue as more people become homeless. Expensive social programs and housing developments for the homeless have been created to help battle the increasing issue. Homelessness is an expensive problem that will never end; furthermore, the condition of homeless people in America is affected by the type of education they receive, the state of the economy, and the amount of funds that are available to house and feed them.
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.
"Who Is Homeless?" Nationalhomeless. National Coalition for the Homeless, July 2009. Web. 3 May 2014. .
On February 8, 1877, Congress passed the Dawes Act. This was named after its author, and Senator Henry Dawes from Massachusetts. The federal government stopped signing treaties with Native Americans, and replaced that with a new law, giving individual Indians ownership of land that had been tribal property. This showed the treatment of Native Americans as individuals, instead of members of their tribe. It also gave them the chance to be known as U.S citizens. This new policy made its focus on breaking up the reservations and giving the Native Americans land. The entire purpose of the Dawes Act was to protect Indian property rights of Native Americans, but the providing of the law, was fixed in a way that the members of the tribe would be taken
Homelessness is an increasing problem in many cities today. More and more people litter street corners with cardboard signs begging for spare change. Numerous research and studies have been conducted as to how these unfortunate people have become homeless, but more importantly, ways to permanently help their situations. Both Derek Thompson’s article “Should you give money to homeless people?” and Bobby Magill’s article “Grand Junction comes to terms with homeless” claim that a substantial gift of direction and support instead of loose change will create the greatest, lasting impact in the homeless’ lives. Although both authors successfully use rhetorical strategies to make their arguments, Bobby Magill’s
At any given time, approximately 600,000 homeless survive at the front door of America. They are sleeping in parks, living in cardboard boxes, sitting on street corners, and resting under bridges. Terrible hunger gnaws at their stomachs as they search for food. Society labels the homeless as useless and worthless, but they are not. They are children, grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, and fathers that need a place to sleep, eat, and live. What does society do to help? Nothing. Society hurries home from work, shopping, and leisure, worrying about who will win the next football game. Society is not worried about where their next meal will come from, where they will sleep, or where they will be tomorrow. Although it is difficult for society not to feel discomfort at seeing homeless people, it is the homeless who pay for the way people feel about them. Alienation of the homeless in America is a direct result of injustice, health issues, and societal attitudes; however, solutions are available to society as they are obligated to all of their citizenry, including the homeless.
Shipler, David K. The Working Poor: Invisible in America (Vintage). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition, 2008.
Homelessness in America is almost an epidemic. There are millions of people in the United States alone who suffer from homelessness, meaning they are without, a roof over their head at night, and without food. Many people just overlook it, and don’t realize how big of an issue this really is. Being homeless just doesn’t happen in a specific part of the United States, it happens everywhere across the country, even in the places you would never expect. It happens in the wealthiest of places, and the poorest of places, one place being Newark, Ohio, and the local communities surround it. With it being so close to where we live, there is so much we could be doing to help those who are suffering from it, but instead we drive right by them not even
Management and leadership are viewed as two different perspectives in the business environment. As described by Dr. Warren Bennis ‘Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing’, this means that managers do things by the set rules and follow company policy, while leaders follow their own intuition, which may in turn be of more benefit to the company.