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Argumentative Essay Homeless

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Homelessness Think back last week; how many homeless people did you come across? When you see these people, what comes to mind? Sympathy? Compassion? Or do you judge them right away? Most people are in this position not because they chose to, but because of a situation that happened in their life that put them there. Homelessness is a serious societal problem affecting our communities. Katel of Housing the Homeless says “about 1.5 million Americans use a shelter in a given year- and advocates for the homeless say that figure badly understates the problem.” Yet, society looks down at these people, not doing anything to help them. They are judged, criticized, and bombarded by false assumptions everywhere they go. I have heard people say “they are like that because they chose to” or “they are lazy and don't want to work.” This is not true in most cases. The reality is life can go wrong at any moment for anyone. For some people there is no one there to help them and their only option is living on the streets or a shelter. As I said, homelessness can happen to anyone. My parents exemplify this as they were homeless at one point in their life. They had just moved to Oregon from California, looking for a new start for their soon to be born son. Life wasn’t as they had expected. My mother’s family, whom they were staying with, without a warning decided to move out of state. They now had nowhere to live and no one to ask for help. With no choice left, they were forced to live in a shelter in terrible conditions as most homeless do. The shelter was not a safe place, property was often stolen and although it was not allowed there were drugs and alcohol. My parents did not choose to be homeless, they were more than willing to work, they searched for employment and tried very hard to find housing but it wasn’t an easy process, it took time. Every homeless person has their own story for why they don’t have a home or income whether it is they immigrated to a new country, a disability, or they lost their job. Whatever the situation is, they all have their unique story. We shouldn’t be quick to judge or assume it was their decision. Sometimes we aren’t able to control a situation and for some people they are forced to

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