Unseen Homelessness: A Hidden Crisis in America

Homelessness and Covenant House

The United States of America in today’s society is viewed as one of the most influential countries in the world because of its massive army and widespread political power that are able to help correct injustices that America see’s in other countries around the world. America’s generosity and political tact when dealing with other countries around the world allow America to be viewed as an example of a large nation where dreams are able to come true and everyone is in charge of their own destiny to ensure all people are able to live successful lives. While this is indeed true for some, it isn’t for all and those people are unfortunately forced to live in extremely terrible conditions because of their lack of wealth.

Many families become homeless because they were already close to the poverty line and a swift change in the economy that results in a loss of a job can cause a family to experience homelessness. Veterans also make up a significant portion of the homeless population with around 8 percent of homeless being veterans (“Snapshot of homelessness,” n.d). Youth are often a widely thought about group that are often left homeless due to family conflict and are unable to be helped to the extent of adults because youth are less likely to be able to receive the same options to help them as adults and because they are less likely to seek help (“Snapshot of homelessness,” n.d). An additional homeless group are those considered to be a part of a group called the chronic homeless, “"Chronic" has a specific definition, involving either long-term and/or repeated bouts of homelessness coupled with disability (physical or mental)”, (“Snapshot of homelessness,” n.d., para. 17). This group while thought to be the most prevalent when discussing homelessness actually only makes up around 15 percent of the homeless population (“Snapshot of homelessness,” n.d). While circumstances may vary as to what may cause a person or family to become homeless the predominant cause is the lack of affordable housing (“Snapshot of homelessness,”

This is a major social problem because being without a home can lead to many problems not only for an individual but for a whole society. When an individual is effected by homelessness it can have an impact on the way that people may view themselves, this can effect self-esteem which in some cases can cause individuals to not want to come out of homelessness because they have accepted such a fate. This can also affect how homeless people view the rest of society. Many people who have been homeless for a extended periods of time have been shown to show distrust of government and others this has been especially proven when dealing with youth who actively try to avoid aid because in many cases adults have been distrustful. Organizations such as Covenant House very important to society because they are able to identify issues seen and make an effort to change them so that in the future society will be better equipped to handle this issue because while the conflict theory suggests a solution, although highly improbable, to this problem it may also be possible that homelessness won’t go away because for now it is able to serve a purpose in