Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Kids :Summary In “Our Tired, Our Poor, Our kids”(2001), Anna Quindlen claims that “There are many homeless mothers and children”(332).Quindlen addresses this issue by needing to find homes for many children the past month (“thousands”) ,as well for those families that wait by their belongings until found a room to sleep. The population of homelessness people isn’t decreasing it’s increasing rapidly. She reveals these problems in order to inform people the outrages numbers of homeless families ,and also “explains some of the effects of homelessness on children,emphasizes the importance of affordable housing,and touches on the effects of welfare reform on homelessness”(329).
We’ve all been down on our luck before, but some are dealt a worse hand than others. Usually in these situations no one is to blame, and yet this mode of thinking doesn’t seem to extend to the homeless: a person becomes homeless due to their poor decisions. But why do we blame homeless people for being homeless? Negative stereotypes regarding homelessness are pervasive in our culture. In today’s society, it is too easy to look down upon those who’ve lost their houses and livelihoods.
Henry, M. et al (2014). Annual Homeless Assessment report (AHAR) to Congress. The department of Housing and Urban Development. This report highlights the numbers in detail in regard to the state of homelessness in California.
Homelessness on Campus “Over 58,000 students identified as homeless on the 2013 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) , a 75 percent increase over the last three years”(Dunning). Homelessness on college campuses is damaging to the individuals who are affected by it. Homelessness is damaging to the individual because it makes graduating from college difficult. To find a way to solve homelessness we need to figure out what the causes of homelessness are.
Homelessness due to individual factor or structural factor? Homelessness is the condition of people without a permanent dwelling. It is an uncontrollable issue around the world and influences different ages of people. Homelessness can be divided into two camps which is structural causes and individual causes .Structural
“Across the country, about 9.6 million families sThere are two major problems in our country that are being very overlooked; poverty and homelessness. They both are very common problems in America that should come to an end. There is no doubt that they can be stopped with the help of the government and other everyday people. All that needs to be done is help out with expensive housing, start initiatives for insurance, create more shelters, take more notice to the rural homelessness, and just reach out to actually understand how large this problem is.
These factors include, but are not limited to, lack of affordable housing, economic insecurity, behavioral health, etc. Research has found that the main contributing factors for children living in homeless families are the lack of affordable housing, poverty, and domestic violence (Aratani, 2009). Similarly, mental illness, substance abuse, and lack of affordable housing are the top contributing factors of homelessness among unaccompanied youth (Aratani, 2009). In addition to analyzing the factors that can cause homelessness, the article explores the impact that homelessness can have on youth. For example, homelessness can often lead to food insecurity since food supplies can be scarce, which can then have a negative impact on the child/youth’s overall health.
As mentioned Vulnerable populations are categorized in many sub-segment and face with numerous challenges. For instance, the homeless population is one of the subgroup of vulnerable populations that facing tremendous economic and health conditions. It is estimated 564,708 people are homeless in the United States, and many of these homeless are youth under 18 years of age (Housing and Urban Development, 2016). Because of their leaving condition and precarious behavior of some homeless individual, they are at risk for poor health status. They are more susceptible to various diseases like skin infection, pneumonia, influenza, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and HIV.
Homelessness is one the most ignored problems in the United States with citizen and politician. Homeless people are walked by and ignored. Nobody ever thinks that they will be homeless. Due to the economy, people live paycheck to paycheck making house payments very difficult. Most people will want to believe most homeless people are drug addicts or alcoholics, but most people will be surprise to know that it is no all true.
The homeless problem costs society millions of dollars, predominantly through medical bills. Society assumes homelessness is normally distributed. However, that is not the case. Homelessness follows a power-law distribution, meaning the problem is not concentrated in the middle but rather at one extreme. This distribution pattern is also evident in police violence allegations.
The issue of homelessness in America has been evident since the early 1600’s. Across the country men, women and children spend their nights on the streets not knowing when or if they will ever find a permanent home. States and federal officials or city councils have tried to alleviate or at least reduce the number of homeless over the last several decades at a city, state or national level but it continues to be an ongoing problem. There is a multitude of factors that account for the growing homeless population that affects each state in the country differently. Though there are many contributing factors that contribute to the amount of people living on the street at any given night in the U.S.
Disabled individuals, veterans and families are some of the demographic that is affected by homelessness. Physical ailments such as malnutrition, lack of hygiene, undiagnosed diseases and/or disorders can be detrimental. Mental disorders such as depression can develop due to the harsh circumstances of living on the streets. The lack of support, affordable housing and medical care that homeless individuals are receiving are prime examples of the need for compassionate and dedicated social workers to assist homeless individuals in regaining hope, purpose, and to evoke the strength within themselves. Living in shelters or public areas, homeless individuals are extremely resilience.
In a homeless person, the association of one or more chronic illnesses with substance abuse or mental illness appears to increase the risk of early death. Homelessness also has negative impacts on children; infants born into homelessness have low birth weights. Socioeconomic conditions those contribute to the prevalence of illness and early death among homeless population. Poor diet obesity, malnutrition, inadequate sleeping conditions, overcrowded shelters, limited facilities for adequate hygiene, exposure to violence and harsh elements, social isolation, depression and lack of health insurance are the factors involved for bad medical conditions. Initial medical visit for homeless person occur during outreach.
Data and Analysis My main focuses were on the types of people walking about (e.g. I observed homeless people walking with shopping carts), the amount of maintenance (trash piling where trash cans should be), and the surrounding structures. This allowed me to see a general demographic of people and the present economic class . From my observations, the streets are not well-cared for, having uneven pavement and depressions. Graffiti is also a prominent feature and is all over buildings, ATM machines, signposts, parking meters--almost any available flat surface.
The homeless population has become a problem for Portland Oregon. Because of this, they do not have any houses. One possible solution to this problem is building tiny houses for them to live in. Another possible solution is letting them live in your backyard in the little houses that they 've built. It is important to solve this problem because there are homeless people who have families to help.
