Persuasive Essay Homeless

In societies’ rise in homelessness and poverty, we often ask what we should do to assist the people experiencing them. Homeless people have also drawn the attention of government officials, who do things to harm the homeless rather than help. What to do with people who are homeless is a widespread question across our nation, similar to the vast increase of unhoused people in each city across the US. While many assume that being homeless is the fault of that person and that homeless people should escape the situation on their own, evidence shows unavoidable, external forces cause people to be unhoused, and they should receive as much support as possible.

People who are homeless do not get much support, which creates a difficult way to live

The cities around the United States that have the majority of homeless are also the places that have unaffordable housing. “76% of all extremely low-income households in California are severely cost-burdened, paying more than half their income on rent. In 2018, more than half of California renters struggled to pay high housing costs.” (Causes of Housing Crisis). Since rent is almost all of someone’s income, it becomes complicated to afford other necessary items, like food, healthcare, and insurance. People are homeless because of medical bills or mental or physical disabilities. “In 2020, 580,000 people experienced homelessness in the United States, with over 161,548 Californias experiencing homelessness” (Causes of Housing Crisis) This is a common trend with large cities and states around the world. New York has 91,271 homeless people, and Florida has 27,487 homeless people. (World Population Review) These three states have statistically higher housing costs than other cities. The combination of rent being too high and another dire factor can have the ability to quickly change your life for the worse. One year you have a good enough-paying job, and a house, go on vacations in the summer, and can treat yourself to Starbucks now and then, by the next year, you are sadly laid off at work; you can not pay your bills on time because you are struggling to find a job. Next thing you know, you have no money and a

The government’s lack of support for the homeless community also makes it devastatingly complicated to live on the streets. Many, if not all, homeless people take advantage of benches or other outside furniture to sleep on. This keeps them off of the dirty ground and offers a spot to rest. Unfortunately, cities invest in new techniques that make it so people can not lie down on benches, as well as other furniture, such as walls and the ground outside of public areas. This includes spikes or bumps on walls and other platforms, people could use to sit on. A common and less recognized technique is to add handles or barriers on benches. As shown in the image, a bench has two handles, one in the middle and one at the end. This makes it impossible to lie down comfortably. Implications of furniture like this push homeless people away and cause other cities to become overcrowded with homeless people. This furniture is funded by the government. It costs more money than it would to help the homeless. Anti-homeless furniture does not beneficially help people. Money cities used to buy this furniture could instead be used to fund shelters and nonprofits to help, rather than hurt. The government could use the money to donate to shelters and food pantries to help the homeless. If there were more openings at shelters, homeless people