Homelessness Epidemic by Anonymous

Has your heart ever ached for someone as you’ve seen begging on the streets for food, work, or any other human necessity?  Homelessness can be defined as the state of an individual living with the lack of needed stability and security that is required to be able to operate in society. Have you ever thought what someone’s story might be about how they’ve ended up in their unfortunate circumstances? How could this have happened? What is he going to do for his next meal? Did this person just let him go? How can this be avoided for everyone? Homelessness can be the result of anything from mental health, unemployment, lack of financial security, any source of abuse, and a plethora of more causes. Unfortunately, this is a reality for very many in all different parts of the world and can possibly become one for others in the near future. What can we do as a human race to help put an end to this social epidemic?

History

               Homelessness has been around for many years dating back from the Hellenistic period, from the era of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Colonial times, and the period of The Great Depression. This epidemic is not just a current problem but has been a constant problem in civilization for many years just as it continues to be one. There are a few examples of homeless in early times such as when Alexander the Great meets and aspires to be as humble as Diogenes the Cynic, who just so happened to be a great homeless philosopher (Chugg,1). Another example derives from the Holy Bible in Mark 10:46-52, of the story of where Jesus Christ of Nazareth performed a miracle on a blind beggar named Bartimaeus that lived on the streets of the city (The Holy Bible IBC 1106).

             The times such as the Colonial Period, years 1607-1776, is where homelessness started to become more documented and clearly relevant to society (“History of Homelessness”, 1). Laws in this period were severe and many people were told if they were able to join the communities or if they had to move on and settle someplace else (1). This decision started to lead to people not being able to have a home since there were not really any other communities, they would have been able to join since there was not many other settlers.  Many cases belonged to when European settlers forced the Native Americans to move to other parts of their land which caused major fights and confusion that left many Europeans and Native Americans homeless (1). After the Civil War there were not enough jobs around so many people had to search for necessities such as food and clothes where the often-used terms such as bum, tramp, and hobo came from (2).  During The Great Depression, considered one of the most severe time periods in history, led to a dramatic increase in homelessness. With many people out of work, no money to go around, and still trying to survive and provide for families, there stood a problem that would still have affect in our society today.

Effects on Society

                    In California this epidemic is on a persistent rise especially now in the year 2019. There is a 12% rise of people without a home-stead home in Los Angeles County, with Los Angeles City seeing 16% and others such as Orange County 43%, Ventura County 28%, San Joaquin County 69%, and Alameda County 43%, saw an outrageous increase in homelessness (Tinoco, 1,2). The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) claims that between 2018 and 2019 an estimate of 55,000 people living in L.A. County are now homeless (1). 6% of Los Angeles County (estimate of 600,000) citizens live in households where most of their income,90%, goes to their housing (2).

        Can you imagine how these people must feel? Having much of their money go to housing and not being able to have much money for anything else like car notes, groceries, personal expenses, entertainment, and everything else that we all like to have money for. LAHSA also surveyed that many of their participants became homeless in a previous state and migrated to California (1). Even though it is a constant prejudgment on people that they are homeless since they are on drugs or mentally ill, an estimate of 71% of homeless people in Los Angeles County are neither substance abusers or mentally ill (3).

Examples of the Epidemic

                  The ideal generalization from people are always one of two things whenever they recognize a homeless person. Either the individual has some sort of substance abuse or they are a lazy bum who can not find a job. The two common assumptions are not the case for majority of people who are facing this social epidemic. The problem with these overviews is that many people are sometimes put into those circumstances due from the result of other’s actions towards them at a young age, unpreparedness for sudden changes, and several causes that could lead to anyone having a breakdown where he can not take any more nonsense in his life. According to Centrepoint Organization in the UK personal journeys from others provide some insight on these different causes (Centrepoint Organization UK, 2019):

       In Tori’s story from Centrepoint, she was hospitalized by her mother at just 15 years old when she beat Tori because she started having mental breakdowns (Centrepoint “Tori’s Story”, 1). From that point on she had to move in with her godmother where she was suddenly kicked out because she was not welcomed by her godmother’s partner because of her race (1). Being forced to have to fend for herself again at just 15 years old she was able to have a place to stay at Centrepoint accommodations where the she was sponsored by a woman named Veronica (1). Tori is now currently living independently where she has worked on several projects from being a blogger, to teaching as a dance teacher and doing a bit of photography and film making (1). Tori constantly creates new ways to raise money for Centrepoint so she can help give an opportunity for someone else who needs help fighting homelessness (1).

One more example of different causes that can lead to someone being in this situation comes from Ben, who went to Centrepoint Organization after officially homeless on Christmas day according to Centrepoint (Centrepoint Organization UK, 2019):

     In Ben’s story when he was just 18, he moved inside of his girlfriend’s house after his relationship with his mother deteriorated (Centrepoint “Ben’s Story”,2019). After a sudden breakup he did not have any other place besides his mother house to go so from there things got worse (1). On Christmas day of that year Ben was hospitalized with sciatica where he was told that he could not return to his mother’s house, so he never went back (1). From that time on Ben slept on park benches, couch surfed, borrowed money for food, and freshened up at gyms (1). Ben was given the opportunity to have a room at Centrepoint which helped him tremendously and he is now living independently and working towards becoming an engineer (1).

      Stories such as Tori’s and Ben’s are two of many of how anyone can become homeless. This epidemic does not discriminate and can happen to people that are not prepared for it the most especially for young adults. According to Covenant House, more than two million kids in the United States will face some period of homelessness alone (Covenant House, 2019). This is a social issue that must be solved before the outcome is more than can be fixed. 

Solutions

               There are very few communities that are trying to find an actual solution of reducing and ending homelessness instead of just trying to maintain this epidemic. In the country of Finland there has been a dramatic decrease in homelessness due to their Housing First approach (Gray, 3). The argument by Finland was made that most homeless premises makes the individual try and solve their problems such as family issues, unemployment, abuse and health problems first before they can get receive the proper help that is needed (2). According to Finland, the outcome for a person who is housed first while their problem is taken care of while they are in better housing has better results than previous schemes because it helps takes a lot of stress off the individual (3). With the Housing First program tenants are given a normal lease for permanent housing and pay rent while still being able to receive housing benefits (3). These individuals are also given support around the clock that are personalized for their situations only (3). With the constant support they are able to receive financial advice about debt and how to manage their money more efficiently (3).

           A program such as Housing First also allows the amazing teamwork and participation of many others such as businesses, volunteers, and the country as a whole (3). Also Finland shows the studies of saving more money for the country with this program by saving up to 9,600 euros per person a year that would be used in government assisting programs (4). A solution like Housing First seems to be a good solution to homelessness because it helps bring the community together to end this social epidemic in Finland.

           One of the ways for homelessness to be solved is for the minimum wages being raised to a higher wage for people to be able to live (Shay,2). Of course, every state and country vary with minimum wages, but there needs to be an actual minimum living expense that can meet everyone’s minimum wage (2). There are also jobs that are not finance or cash handling positions that requires credit checks for employment (3). This practice is not helpful due to the fact that there may have been trouble with paying some bills or previous employment for a homeless person (3).

            There is still a good number of homeless people due to the contribution if development disorders and mental illness. This mostly takes place because these individuals aren’t given any special attention from friends or family which can help to someone becoming homeless (3).  One way we can help this stigma against this specific group of people is by gaining knowledge and teaching awareness about people having development disorders and mental illnesses (3). Healthcare as well plays a major part in the lives of homeless people, from the matter of medical bills being one of the top causes for bankruptcy (4). Many people do not have the requirements that are needed for government assistance or caring others that can help them in their time of need (4). There should be a law where it should be illegal for someone to lose their home because of not being able to work at that time (4). Also, healthcare being reshaped to a single payer system may help those who are hurt and trying to keep up with their medical bills (4).

          Personal views such as religion, sexuality, and various ideological opinions creates problems in relationships, such as parents and teens, which causes homelessness rapidly for teens (4). These certain situations can be classified simply as child abandonment and should have stricter laws (4). Abuse comes in many forms and for individuals to get away they have to sometimes experience homelessness. Knowledge and awareness about the different types of abuse can help give information about the various groups and programs that are designed to prevent, handle, and get away from the abuse (4).

Camus and Absurdity

              Albert Camus was an existentialist who believed that life had no meaning, and there was not anything you can do to obtain meaning in life (Maguire, 2015).  Camus would of have believed that homelessness was absurd. He would maybe of have believed that homeless individuals helped his theory of that life has no special meaning, because if it did then how could these persons not be self-sufficient when they had received a chance like everyone else. Albert Camus once said in his essay, The Minotaur or also known as The Stop in Oran, “In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion”, (Camus, ‘The Minotaur’,1).  This simple quote can relay to the epidemic of homelessness since citizens who are independent mostly do look at homeless individuals as if they are outsiders in society. Homeless people may feel as no on in the world cares about their well being and stableness as people constantly passes by them in the street without even paying them any attention. Camus may of have made these individuals think if they were really the cause of their own downfall or everyone else like family, friends, capitalism and the government.

Conclusion

                 Homelessness is a social epidemic that we all should as a human race come together to help solve. The quality of life should be valued more to the point of where we want to help others in their time of need no matter their circumstances or situations. Whether they’ve come from previous abuse, disabilities, financial instability or just down on their luck, it is not humane just to watch others suffer. We will all be to benefit from helping the homeless get back on their feet, because more money will be able to go into public schools or reconstruction rather than trying to maintain homelessness with many government assisting programs. Homelessness can be solved but it will be a constant process that requires re-evaluation of attitudes with much love and support from others.

                                                             

                                                           Works Cited

“Ben's Story.” Centrepoint, centrepoint.org.uk/youth-homelessness/real-stories/bens-story/. Web.

Camus, Albert. “The Minotaur.” Albert Camus: THE MINOTAUR, www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/00/pwillen1/lit/minot.htm.

Gray, Alex. “Here's How Finland Solved Its Homelessness Problem.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/02/how-finland-solved-homelessness/.

“History of Homelessness.” Invisible People, Web. 22 Sept. 2018, invisiblepeople.tv/history-of-homelessness/.

Maguire, Laura. "Camus and Absurdity." Philosophy Talk. Philosophy Talk, 28 Feb. 2015. Web. https://www.philosophytalk.org/blog/camus-and-absurdity

Shay, Kylyssa. “Solutions to the Problem of Homelessness.” Soapboxie, 26 Aug. 2016, soapboxie.com/social-issues/homelessness solutions.

“Statistics on Homeless Youth in America: Covenant House.” Statistics on Homeless Youth in America | Covenant House, Web. 2018, www.covenanthouse.org/homeless-teen-issues/statistics.

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments. Trinitarian Bible Society, 2010.

Tinoco, Matt. “LA County Homelessness Is Getting Worse. Here Are the Numbers.” Web. LAist, 2019, laist.com/2019/06/04/los_angeles_homeless_rate_increase.php.

 “Tori's Story.” Centrepoint, centrepoint.org.uk/youth-homelessness/real-stories/tori’s-story/. Web.