Jimnez Jorge

Superior Writing
01/03/2016

HOMELESSNESS
How do we define homelessness? A person who is homeless does not have a
fixed regular and adequate day and nighttime residence. This person may be sleeping on
the streets, with friends or family, in cars or abandoned building or in shelters. (Green,
2015) Today, the problem of homeless people is rather a pressing one, and,
unfortunately, is widespread all over the world. The reasons can be quite different: it can
be a high rent for the habitation, low salary, mental disability, the loss of all the
members of the family etc. When people are in such a difficult situation, they need to
live further somehow and they have no other way out than to live in a small carton and
beg for some money. The governments of different countries started different social
programs to deracinate the problem; however, there are no positive results yet. As for
me, the problem of homelessness has become more pressing and the number of
homeless people is still increasing. What should we do? Are there some ways of
solving, and, if so, what are they, then?
Throughout the world it is impossible to count the exact amount of homeless,
but it is known to be millions. Every day in cities and towns across the country, men,
women, and children dressed in rags walk the streets, often talking to visions and
begging for money. Most are carrying plastic bags or pushing shopping carts filled with
personal belongings. Sometimes they curl up on a bench or in a doorway under filthy
blankets or ragged coats. If someone gives them money they may respond with prayers
of thanks and blessings, or stare off into space feeling untouched by efforts to help.

These people are called homeless, although they are more than just people without
homes. Most people in our society think the dirty, smelling homeless show signs of drug
addictions. Others smell like alcohol, which shows their drunkenness.
Homeless children have iron deficiency anemia at a rate two to three times
greater than that of children that are not homeless, and they tend to have an inadequate
diet with too few calories and too much fast food. (Noriega, 1996)
People actually commit less violent crimes than people with homes do. Dr.
Pamela Fischer, of John Hopkins University, studied arrest records in Baltimore and
discovered that even though homeless people were more likely to commit non violent
and non destructive crimes, they were less likely to commit violent crimes against
people.
The crimes that these people are committing are necessary to keep them alive.
These crimes include sleeping, eating, and panhandling. Making it illegal to perform
necessary daily activities in public when homeless people have no where else to go
makes it impossible for homeless people to avoid violating the law.
Different researches, dealt with the causes of homelessness, gathered the
personal information about people who have to live in the street. Though, analyzing that
information, it is clear, that mostly, people lived in the poor districts, where there was a
high percentage of unemployment, family violation, low education, drug abuse etc.
(Tisdale, 2011). All these factors can be taken into account as the primary ones. So,
judging by this information we can say clearly, that a possible way of solution is to stop
the process of becoming homeless at the very beginning of it. The government should
primarily pay attention to such districts, it should organize the work of the social

programs in the way, so that they can help people, who are on the verge of
homelessness. (Gilbert, 2013). What does it mean? First of all, there should be some
social services, which should determine the financial and moral state of different
families in the districts with a high percentage of risk of homelessness. Social workers
should be close to such families; they can help them to solve some psychological
problems connected with the child's education or with different kinds of parents abuse.
Special attention should be paid on the part of the neighbors, police, spiritual leaders
and the landlords, as such vulnerable families are seen better by those, who are in the
nearest position to them.
Theoretically, it sounds great, but, unfortunately, people nowadays have lost
their humanity qualities, they are interested only in their correct wellness and prosperity
and they dont care about the problems other people may face. This is not a good state
of things, we forget about mutual help, compassion. We are led by the desire of great
amount of money, and the problems of the others are of no matter for us. That is why
such social programs of mutual help bring no result at all. There is a reverse of the coin
if there are people, who would like to help the others to solve at least their
psychological problems, there is a possibility that families with such problems can just
skip this help. It is natural, that when people are in a tight situation, they are not
enthusiastic about discussing their problems with the others. The other way round they
become angry, aggressive, as if everyone who surrounds them is guilty of their poverty.
Of course, when people become homeless, this is a real shock for them, especially when
it happens unexpectedly. They are morally, spiritually and even psychologically
destroyed and we should understand it.

Supporting housing has become rather widespread nowadays. They provide

different services connected with mental and physical health and employment. In this
way, they help families, who are on the edge of homelessness, when they still have the
houses, and the work of this supporting housing is coordinated in the way to support the
families and help them to find a job before they lose everything they have. (Rosenberg,
2012)
However, there is another problem, connected with homelessness how to
understand, whether a person really needs your help. Unfortunately, some people
managed to create their business, based on charity for homeless people. The procedure
is simple: a person begs for money in a specific place, and this is only his place, and at
the end of the day, a part of the money is given to a chief. In case, when people, who are
really in need, decide to occupy the same place, he wont have a success. It is sad even
to think about those people, who have built their business on the grief of the others.
Who are those people, who can freely use peoples despair for their own benefits? The
problem is extremely pressing and this one should be solved on the level of the
government. Special services should deal with these businessmen and punish them
according to the legislation in power.
There are many shelters were the homeless can go to get out of the cold and
sleep on a cot instead of a bench or the hard ground, but families sometimes find it
dangerous to sleep there in fear that the few possessions that they do own will be stolen.
We should make these places safer for the homeless, and set up programs within these
shelters that will help the homeless find jobs and homes. We could have the vacant
apartment buildings opened and have the homeless stay there so that they have an
address to get their selves a job. We could take some of the money that we are using to

set up these little shelters, and set up larger ones in the cities that need them the most.
We could all volunteer a little of our time to serve dinners to these people and to help
build homes for the homeless. We could give a little of our money to those who have
none. A little of our time will go a long way.
The LIHEAP Coalition, an alliance of organizations that support LIHEAP
funding, estimates that only about 13 percent of eligible families actually receive
LIHEAP assistance now, and that this number would be expected to drop further under
the amount Congress appropriated. Recent surveys indicate that in 1999, when heating
bills were unaffordable, roughly 21-25 percent of LIHEAP recipients went without
medical care and 12-13 percent went without food so they could cover their energy
costs. (Kamz, 2013). Homelessness is an ongoing problem for our society.
Coming to a conclusion, Homelessness is a big problem in the world today, but
there are very few programs set up to help them. We all need to work together to help
those less fortunate because you would want someone to help you if you were in that
position, so we should do our best to help them, I want to say, that we should pay more
attention to people, who are around us, no one knows whether he can be in the same
situation or not, no one has the guarantees that he will live in the prosperity the whole
life. That is why, we should help each other, we should remember that we are the people
and such qualities as compassion and loyalty shouldnt die in our souls.

WORKS CITED
Fischer, P. (2012). Homeless: A social problem. Baltimore: Hopkins University .
Gilbert, M. (2013, June 15). The homeless in America. Retrieved from 123helpme.com :
http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=40290
Green, Q. (2015, March 11). Essay on homelessness. Retrieved from Samples.com:
http://samples.essaypedia.com/papers/essay-on-homelessness-39208.html
Kamz, L. (2013, June 02). Homelessness in America. Retrieved from Essaypedia.com:
http://samples.essaypedia.com/papers/causes-of-homelessness-in-america58360.html
Noriega, J. (1996). Health Needs of Homeless Children and Families. New York:
McGraw Hill.
Rosenberg, L. (2012, January 22). Health Care Services for the Homeless. Retrieved
from Lotsofeassys.com: http://www.lotsofessays.com/search-essays.html?
search=homeless
Tisdale, N. (2011). Causes of Homeless. New York: Pearson .