Photo: Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Why You Should Care About Homelessness
By: NayNay Butler
This country has a worsening homeless problem. It doesn’t matter what city or town you visit in this country, at some point you have seen the homeless sheltered in tents on the side of the road or in certain areas known as tent cities. The rising cost of housing has really made the homeless problem a national crisis. The pandemic caused many people to find themselves homeless after the nation was shut down due to covid-19. The homeless problem was then exacerbated by the skyrocketing rent hikes that many have experienced in the past year. The rents have risen across the country but salaries have not kept pace with those rent spikes. Homelessness is a subject that will continue to get worse if we don't address the causes and try to find solutions to slow it down. Families across the country have been affected by a job loss, family illness, or some misfortune that leads to them to be forced from their homes. There are some women who found themselves homeless due to domestic violence situations. Another huge problem that affects homelessness in this country is addiction. There is a direct association with homelessness and drugs/alcohol. Many of the homeless have some sort of mental illness. It is very difficult to obtain mental healthcare in this country, especially if you don't have insurance or money to pay the hourly fees for care. There are so many different reasons why people are faced with homelessness. The national median rent is approximately $1,942.00. The state of the dismal economy has caused high gas and food prices as well, causing many people to find themselves in a position to not be able to afford to pay rent. There is not many cities in this country where rising homelessness is not a serious problem.
Homelessness by the Numbers
In 2022, there were 582,462 homeless people on a single night in the United States. The top ten states with the most homeless are::
New York
Hawaii
California
Oregon
Washington
Alaska
Massachusetts
Nevada
Vermont
Colorado
Florida
Issues the Homeless Face
When people become homeless, the first thing they attempt to do is find shelter. They will most likely attempt to get into a local homeless shelter. We might think that it is an easy task to show up at a shelter, and you will have a place to rest your head for a while, but this is just not the case in most cities across the country. There is an availability issue in most homeless shelters, and if you are fortunate enough to find a shelter that is available, there could be a nominal fee. There are people that may not be able to afford the fee. There is also the issue of the safety of some of these homeless shelters. You have people from all walks of life staying at these shelters. You may have people with drug addictions, undocumented child predators, people with mental illnesses staying at these shelters. Another issue homeless people face when considering staying at a shelter is the health concerns. Some shelters are not very clean, and you may have to deal with a number of insect infestations, and people with communicable diseases, but if you are homeless, your only alternative is to live on the street. This option is just as dangerous because you may face being assaulted, robbed, even murdered when you live on the street. You also have to contend with inclement weather. One reason why you see so many homeless people on the streets during the day is because a lot of shelters force the homeless out of the shelter during the day, and allow them to return at night. Finding shelter is no easy task if you become homeless.
The issue of homelessness is a serious one, and it affects everyone because not one of us knows what could happen in our future that could lead us to being homeless. This is why it is so important that we should all care about this issue, and do what we can to bring awareness to the plight of the homeless.
What is Being Done to Help the Homeless
There is an independent agency called the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). This agency has teamed up with 19 federal agencies, state and local governments, advocates, service providers, and people who are homeless to achieve goals set out to prevent and end homelessness.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness works on the legislative side of the issues of the homeless. This organization advocates for improved federal policies to combat this issue. There are many organizations and individuals fighting every day to prevent and end homelessness. There has been some progress in recent years, but there is still a lot of work to do. We all need to care about the homeless families, single mothers, veterans and senior citizens who are sleeping on the streets every night as we sleep in our comfortable beds. We should care because you or someone you know could become homeless. I am sure there are people who are homeless today that had a comfortable life at one time too. They never thought it could happen to them.
What You Can Do To Help
If you are interested in doing your part to help the homeless, look up the homeless organizations in your city and offer to donate money or your time to help. There are also national organizations that you can contact to see what kind of help is needed. You might be able to donate toiletries or clothes to some of the organizations. Whatever little bit you can do to help will be appreciated. The one thing we all should do is to bring awareness to this issue by writing letters to your Congressmen or Senators about this issue. You may feel you are so far removed from this issue, but you never know what can happen in life.
IF YOU ARE HOMELESS AND NEED HELP, CONTACT THE AGENCIES BELOW:
National Coalition for the Homeless
https://nationalhomeless.org/references/need-help/
Hud Exchange
www.hudexchange.info/housing-and-homeless-assistance/
Sources:
Security.org
https://www.security.org/resources/homeless-statistics/#american
Rent.com
https://www.rent.com/research/average-rent-price-report/
World Population Review
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/homeless-population-by-state
Homelessness by the Numbers
In 2022, there were 582,462 homeless people on a single night in the United States. The top ten states with the most homeless are::
New York
Hawaii
California
Oregon
Washington
Alaska
Massachusetts
Nevada
Vermont
Colorado
Florida
Issues the Homeless Face
When people become homeless, the first thing they attempt to do is find shelter. They will most likely attempt to get into a local homeless shelter. We might think that it is an easy task to show up at a shelter, and you will have a place to rest your head for a while, but this is just not the case in most cities across the country. There is an availability issue in most homeless shelters, and if you are fortunate enough to find a shelter that is available, there could be a nominal fee. There are people that may not be able to afford the fee. There is also the issue of the safety of some of these homeless shelters. You have people from all walks of life staying at these shelters. You may have people with drug addictions, undocumented child predators, people with mental illnesses staying at these shelters. Another issue homeless people face when considering staying at a shelter is the health concerns. Some shelters are not very clean, and you may have to deal with a number of insect infestations, and people with communicable diseases, but if you are homeless, your only alternative is to live on the street. This option is just as dangerous because you may face being assaulted, robbed, even murdered when you live on the street. You also have to contend with inclement weather. One reason why you see so many homeless people on the streets during the day is because a lot of shelters force the homeless out of the shelter during the day, and allow them to return at night. Finding shelter is no easy task if you become homeless.
The issue of homelessness is a serious one, and it affects everyone because not one of us knows what could happen in our future that could lead us to being homeless. This is why it is so important that we should all care about this issue, and do what we can to bring awareness to the plight of the homeless.
What is Being Done to Help the Homeless
There is an independent agency called the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). This agency has teamed up with 19 federal agencies, state and local governments, advocates, service providers, and people who are homeless to achieve goals set out to prevent and end homelessness.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness works on the legislative side of the issues of the homeless. This organization advocates for improved federal policies to combat this issue. There are many organizations and individuals fighting every day to prevent and end homelessness. There has been some progress in recent years, but there is still a lot of work to do. We all need to care about the homeless families, single mothers, veterans and senior citizens who are sleeping on the streets every night as we sleep in our comfortable beds. We should care because you or someone you know could become homeless. I am sure there are people who are homeless today that had a comfortable life at one time too. They never thought it could happen to them.
What You Can Do To Help
If you are interested in doing your part to help the homeless, look up the homeless organizations in your city and offer to donate money or your time to help. There are also national organizations that you can contact to see what kind of help is needed. You might be able to donate toiletries or clothes to some of the organizations. Whatever little bit you can do to help will be appreciated. The one thing we all should do is to bring awareness to this issue by writing letters to your Congressmen or Senators about this issue. You may feel you are so far removed from this issue, but you never know what can happen in life.
IF YOU ARE HOMELESS AND NEED HELP, CONTACT THE AGENCIES BELOW:
National Coalition for the Homeless
https://nationalhomeless.org/references/need-help/
Hud Exchange
www.hudexchange.info/housing-and-homeless-assistance/
Sources:
Security.org
https://www.security.org/resources/homeless-statistics/#american
Rent.com
https://www.rent.com/research/average-rent-price-report/
World Population Review
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/homeless-population-by-state
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