Persuasive Essay About Being Homeless

America is known for the ‘American Dream’ and being the place for opportunities and new beginnings but what if I told you that the poverty rate is increasing and 37.9 million people were living in poverty in 2021. Living below the poverty line is hard for anyone, struggling to get basic needs such as food shelter, medical attention, and schooling. There could be many solutions for poverty but the government isn’t too focused on fixing that. When you don't have a stable living condition you are more prone to getting sick especially in 2020 with covid. Living in shelters with many people, being in many environments most being unsanitary and not being able to properly shower. Getting sick is easy but getting the help needed isn’t always available,

Being homeless isn’t a choice most people think it’s because they spend most of their money on drugs but this is normally not the cause, it can happen at any moment eviction, unemployment, low wages, and domestic abuse. The first place people think about is shelters but most aren’t the best long-term plan. For a long-term stay, you would have to be put on a waitlist which could be for months. Most shelters allow people to stay overnight until the temperature drops and they're at full capacity. Without shelter, they are forced to sleep outside but the government makes that difficult. The government pays for hostile architecture which is architecture for the public but has modifications to make them unusable. The police remove homeless people from public areas because they’re making the area ‘look bad’. “Hostile architecture limits how people experiencing homelessness use public spaces, and discourages them from staying in an area for too long” and “placement of boulders, spikes, high pitch sounds, or other features to stop people from lying down or camping” (Paragraphs 2 and 3). Most can’t get a roof over their heads because of limited shelter space and they cannot sleep outside because they pay for extra armrests on benches or random laser lights outside buildings so they cannot have anywhere to

Your address is the reason why you have most of the things you need because it shows proof of residency. With that you can apply for jobs, open bank accounts, seek government assistance, and register for school. The things they need to become financially stable again are restricted by not having an address. “NLCHP’s survey revealed that large percentages of homeless persons are denied critical benefits and services if they do not have a photo ID” and “51.1% were denied Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits 30.6% were denied Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) benefits 53.1% were denied food stamps 54.1% were denied access to shelters or housing services 45.1% were denied access to Medicaid or medical services” (page 5). Without an address or an ID, the government refuses to help