What Can Be Done to Help the Homeless?

Did you know that there are 5 times as many vacant and empty houses than there are homeless people (Truthdig)? That’s right, homeless people are sleeping and living on the streets, unknowing of the hundreds upon thousands of empty homes they could be occupying! But alas, they sleep on the streets, beg for money, and scavenge for food in dumpsters, hoping for a way to pull through for the night.

Homelessness is important because there are 3.5 million homeless people on the streets, maybe even more (National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness). They are starving on the streets, desperate for a job and a warm place to sleep. Of those 3.5 million homeless people, 1.7 million are teenagers. 75% of all homeless teens use drugs or alcohol as a means to cope with the traumatic experiences they face (Do Something). 5,000 of them die each year because of assault, disease or suicide. The average age of all of the homeless teenagers is 14.7 years old. Of all the homeless people, 50% of them are African American, 35% are white, 12% are Hispanic, 2% are Native American, and the remaining 1% are Asian (Statistic Brain).

Homelessness impacts others by, well, them not having a home to live in or sleep in. It also affects them in many other ways. For example, homeless children get sick four times more often than other children (National Center on Family Homelessness). They get hungry twice as fast as other children, and are twice more likely to have learning disabilities than other non-homeless children (National Center on Family Homelessness). 42% of all homeless children are under the age of 6, and every 33 seconds, a child is born into poverty (Family Promise). 28% of all homeless people do not get enough food to eat daily (Sta...

... middle of paper ...

...php?p=ts. 1 January 2010. 20 February 2014 .

National Coalition for the Homeless. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/you.pdf. June 2006. 21 February 2014 .

National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness. Homelessness in America | National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness. n.d. 24 February 2014 .

Statistic Brain. Homelessness / Poverty Stats | Statistic Brain. 28 July 2013. 20 February 2014 .

Truthdig. Vacant Houses Outnumber Homeless People in U.S. - Truthdig. 31 December 2011. 20 February 2014 .