The Role Of Homelessness In The United States

The topic I have decided to focus Genius Hour on is how to solve the problem of homelessness in the United States. More than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year. And in 2013, there was a high of 2.5 million homeless children. But why should people care? People should care because if they ever went into foreclosure, they could be secure in knowing that they would still have a place to stay in and would not be forced to go on the streets. A solution to eliminating homelessness would be incorporating some socialism factors of government into our federal government. I consider this a sensible solution because our federal government has a double security system that prevents our government

Homelessness in the United States can be ended, not just maintained. Allot of cities now have plans to eradicate homelessness. Homelessness and housing instability are large issues that afflict a diverse demographic such as: Families, youth, veterans, and chronically homeless single male adults. Ending homelessness may require specialized solutions that are specific to individual needs. Factors like these make defeating homelessness a difficult task. Although solutions exist for some of the demographics, such as housing for chronically homeless adults, scaling up best practices remains a challenge. For other subpopulations, such as transitional aged youth, evidence-based interventions need to be developed. In this paper we argue that ending homelessness is a Grand Challenge that is big, important, and compelling—one that the profession of social work should be adopt. Meeting this challenge will require a focused, organized response from social work researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Ending homelessness will require innovation and interdisciplinary or cross-sector collaboration. Key words: Housing First, Permanent Supportive Housing, rapid re-housing, prevention, poverty. The notion that homelessness in the United States can be ended, rather than managed (Mangano, 2002; National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2012), represents a fundamental shift in expectations from the 1980s and ’90s. Since the early 2000s, researchers, policymakers, advocates,

According to the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness, “approximately 3.5 million people are homeless each year, while 36.3 million live in households without enough food.” This statistic only reflects the United States, and to many people, it just doesn’t make sense. For instance Alfredzine Black of the YWCA in Marion, Indiana says, “I don’t understand why we have so much poverty in the richest country in the world!” Citizens of the United States have a hard time defining and identifying poverty in their communities, so the country should crate a consistent and accurate measure of poverty. Also, urban growth is leaving people behind and causing unnecessary evictions that lead to homelessness, and this problem can be

During the 1980’s the number of "homeless" people, those without a house in which to reside, increased at an alarming rate. Many analysts have given much time and thought as to the reasons that this phenomenon occurred. They cite economic instability and government policies with facts and figures to support their work. Beyond the research and cold statistics that explain this event, are the victims, and those that worked to help relieve their hardship. An interview with Philip Guerrieri gives us insight into the personal lives of these individuals whom he calls "houseless," and the realities of staying alive, both physically and spiritually, on the streets.

There is no doubt that being homeless has always been a problem in America. It is a problem for everybody, no one ever wants to be deemed homeless. Recent studies reveal that being homeless has now turned into an epidemic in some cities across the country. The homeless population has increased this year for the first time since the Great Recession and I think it is utterly ridiculous when the top two prominent cities in the United States (New York City and Los Angeles) are among the top three homeless cities in the world. The increase has been so disturbing that some state governments decided to call for a state of emergency. The reason behind the homeless population increase is due to the West Coasts flourishing economy. Rent wages increased

help others who are in any way, shape or form underprivileged; including the homeless. While,

Do you think there is to little homeless shelters? People died on the streets for being to hot or too cold. Americans starve to death because living on the streets. There should be more homeless shelters in America to get people off the streets forever to help people who need it to make America a better place.

The issue of homelessness is one that I can relate to all too well. About twenty five years ago I found myself among the homeless. My story is simple, I had no formal education and was working a job making minimum wage. I couldn’t keep up with my rent and other living expenses and was finally evicted from my overpriced apartment. At the time I was on a waiting list for public housing for which there was at least a two year waiting period. The fact that I was single, with no children did not help me either. For a while I lived on the streets and in shelters, too ashamed to approach what family members I had with my problems knowing that they were

Homelessness has been a major problem all over the United States for decades. Going into the major cities like New York City, Chicago or even Baltimore people are able to see the struggle the homeless are going through year around. It is easy to say for the homeless to just get a job and make simple money but it is easier said than done. The reason why homelessness is becoming a major problem is not having affordable housing, sufficient income and restrictions of healthcare services. With all three of these issues we can be able to change someone’s life by helping them on the right track. Meanwhile, if ignored and not confronting the problem it will never be solved and then become worse. The solutions to Baltimore’s homelessness are for

I Feel like homelessness is a serious yet under rated issue specially here in the United States of America. In fact, the economy is still recovering from a big recession in 2008 caused by the banks giving out loans to people who really couldn't afford to pay them. I recall watching the news back in 2008 and 2009 and seeing the rate of people getting foreclosures on their homes skyrocket that it made me think about my living situation. Although this is a circumstantial situation that would force some one to become homeless, There are people who voluntarily choose to be homeless as well. (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/recession-leads-to-25-rise-in-homelessness-as-spending-to-tackle-the-problem-falls-7994416.html).

The United States of America has long been known as the land the free. It is a well-deserved name, we have struggled for our own sovereignty in the 1700’s, fought for freedom all over the globe in the 1940’s, and peacefully strove for the rights of our brothers and sisters in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Time and time again we have recognized the plight of the oppressed, and have lent them our collective voices. The United States of America is also known as the land of opportunity. Bountiful riches bless our fields, our shining cities rival the stars in the night sky, and absolutely anyone can attain prosperity if they put in the work. If we have continued, through great wars and civil strife, to act upon the ideals that created

About 1.7 million youth in America will encounter homelessness each year (Tompsett, Domoff, & Toro, 2013). Homelessness within the youth population in America is a serious problem and there are many associated risks and hazards identified with being homeless as a youth. For this research youth has been established to be any person between the ages of 12 and 18; in the process of maturing through adolescent stages of growth (Oliveira & Burke, 2013, p. 154). Youth whom become homeless are at risk of developing a lifestyle or acculturation to street living. Researchers are exploring the causes of homelessness in the youth population and the consequences of homelessness.

There are approximately 564,708 homeless people in the United States, and that number not only includes individuals, but families and children. In fact, 36% of that number were homeless in families, with almost 25% being children under the age of 18, according to the 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. Note that these numbers are a one night snapshot, and in the course of a year many more people will experience homelessness. These numbers are quite astounding to me, because we live in a nation full of opportunities for anyone seeking to have a better life for their family. Statistics from the National Alliance to End Homelessness show that both the number of people in poverty and the poverty rate

A large number of Americans get off of work or get through with school for the day and get in a car or on the bus and commute home. Home is a place of security for most; a place that is comforting and full of ample resources to live comfortably. Unfortunately, according to Project HOME, in January of 2015, 83,170 individuals and 13,105 people in families were chronically homeless, meaning that they have experienced homelessness for a year or longer or have been homeless four times in three consecutive years (“Facts on Homelessness”). Chronically homeless individuals tend to rely on public housing and other government aid and while it is done with good intentions it does not always teach how to eventually get out of being chronically homeless.

In the United States, the amount of the homeless individuals continues to fluctuate throughout the country and the inconsistency is apparent. In total, 33 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) reported decreases in overall homelessness, while 16 states reported an increase (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2016). The states with decreases in homelessness were focused in the South and Midwest (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2016). Even though, there is a national decrease in unsheltered homelessness, only 18 states reported decreases in the number of people living in unsheltered locations such as streets, cars, and abandoned buildings. The national decrease in unsheltered homelessness was