Homelessness in America

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One wakes up from a cozy bed every morning, he takes a shower, he gets dressed and ready, he hops in the car and drives to work or school, then he comes home, he eats dinner, and he goes to sleep. All of these are basic needs that should belong to everyone, but many do not own. Americans usually take multiple things for granted, and others have no home, nothing to wear except what they are wearing, they do not know where their next meal is coming from, and they have no one to turn to for help. This is one of America’s greatest shames; a percent of homeless people roam the streets of the cities. Many circumstances lead to a person becoming homeless including drug and alcohol abuse, the government, and mental illness.
Drug and alcohol abuse lead to homelessness and mental illness; it is endangering the individuals of the United States as well as other countries. Seventeen percent of the homeless population had a history of substance abuse including hard drugs and alcohol (Burt 5). When people take drugs they cannot think straight and they end up making the choices that are not the ones that they should’ve chosen; therefore, causing them to become homeless because they don’t have a job that they can keep on a regular basis. Taking out the time and money to go to a hospital to get help is something that a homeless person will not do on their own. They just do not have the money. In addition, it is almost guaranteed that that person will go spend it on more drugs and alcohol, or they gamble with it when people see a homeless person on the side of the street and give them money.
Personal problems cause homelessness throughout the United States as well as other countries. One cannot pay any kind of bill to own, or even rent, a home i...

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...edia.com/doc/1O88-mentalillness.html.
"Mental Illness and Homelessness." National Coalition for the Homeless. N.p., July 2009. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/Mental_Illness.html.
"NAMI | Teenage Suicide." NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. N.p., 2008. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Helpline1/Teenage_Suicide.htm.
"NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness | Mental Illnesses." NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness - Mental Health Support, Education and Advocacy. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness.
"A National Shame: The Mentally Ill Homeless — Anxiety, Panic & Health." Anxiety, Panic & Health — Living with Health, Wellness and Wholeness. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Jan. 2014. http://anxietypanichealth.com/2008/10/15/a-national-shame-the-mentally-ill-homeless/

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