ARGUMENTATION-PERSUAISON ESSAY “HOMELESS IN AMERICA” CHRIS RIECH SOUTH UNIVERSITY ONLINE “HOMELESS IN AMERICA” The reason people are homeless in America today is due to the lack of support from out government. Economic problems such as being laid off work or the rise in the cost of housing have lead people to live on the streets. They have no family to help them and they are left with no other choice. People with mental illnesses and addictions also become homeless quite often. A lack of affordable housing has contributed to homelessness.
How are so many people, fellow human beings, sleeping on sidewalks, begging for spare change, and digging through garbage cans just to find food to eat? Many are battling mental illnesses that make it impossible for them to get or keep a job. For some, PTSD from childhood memories or even from military service haunts them. For others, mild retardation or other mental illnesses make employment impossible. Others are on the street because for them, it’s better than going back to an abusive spouse or parents.
On the other hand, some would disagree and argue that the cause of homelessness is because the economy is bad. Every time the economy goes south, the cost of living remains the same or goes up. For example, when the economy is bad, a large number of people always lose their jobs. With job loss, there is always the threat of becoming homeless if they cannot find another job
Dan Murray teacher English 112 April 9th 2011 We Should Not Discriminate the Homeless Many Americans live just a few paychecks away from homelessness. Being so it seems that most would have certain sympathy toward homeless people. However, it’s quite the opposite. Even as people see those around them, people they were once friends with, become homeless, the fears and hatred remain. Some people fear and hate homeless people so much that even if they know the people, such as when their sibling becomes homeless, they apply those same hatreds and fears to the people who cared for them.
Anyone can be vulnerable at any given point in time as a result of life circumstances or response to illness or events “ (de Chesnay & Anderson, 2008, p. 3). What barriers may prevent these groups from obtaining needed services? Barriers such as poor economy, mental illness, physical illness/limitations, and addiction problems prevent vulnerable populations from obtaining needed services. Some veterans are homeless because they must wait a long time to receive their disability benefits, and they cannot work, leading them with no money and no homes after returning from war. Many veterans may become drug abusers and decide no to go back to their families while struggling with this problem, finding themselves on the streets.
It is very difficult to define clearly homelessness and find out exactly the number of homeless people in America. This research paper is just going to discuss who is homeless, the reasons why people become homeless and how to solve this problem. Homeless people in this research paper may be whole families, men or women, those who have job or no job, children, the elderly, the mentally disabled, veterans, victims of domestic violence, and people with HIV. Who are homeless? Homeless people are poor people.
It is easy to group these people together and label them all the same, but every homeless person has a story, a reason, or a problem, that has lead them to where they are today. Homelessness exists due to a lack of affordable housing, a loss of income, mental illness, substance abuse, and a combination of various other reasons. In our society, it seems that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer making the gap between these two Classes seem larger each year. The Middle class has carried this country, and helped fund assistance programs, but they can also find themselves caught without work or housing. Foreclosures have hit an all time high, and unfortunately some people were allowed to finance beyond their means and now have become homeless too.
(Baumohl, 2001) Some people felt like homelessness was caused by heavy drinking, drug abuse, and mental problems. Because of the new policies the government made, these people were not allowed to be housed in hospitals and jails. “Homelessness was described mainly as a problem in the rehabilitation and control of troubled and troublesome people who were not only houseless but barred from their traditional institutional shelters and estranged from family and friends who might take them in”. (Baumohl, p.
I am going to discuss the benefits system, poverty, unemployment and also the lack of affordable housing. Homelessness is defined by the law as a person either not having the legal right to occupy accommodation or the accommodation that they are living is as being unsuitable2.. The majority of my research suggests that the main reason that homelessness exists is due to the lacking of monetary resources. Without money a person cannot afford a place to live and may even struggle in the upkeep of their home. It is argued that people may not have the capacity to cope both mentally and financially without a job or a source of income.
As a result, some live in unsafe and unsanitary conditions that are badly in need of repair. There is a huge population in San Francisco that live below the poverty line. Homelessness describes a situation in which people lack a fixed dwelling place. A homeless individual is a person without a fixed and regular nighttime residence. Shelter is one of the most basic needs, yet many people lack this necessity.