If Home is Where the Heart is, What Happens when you are Homeless?
The great American poet Robert Frost said, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” However, everyone in America does not always have a place to go where they will be taken in. Currently, hundreds of thousands of Americans are categorized as “homeless,” and these numbers only encompass those who are “countable.” At the beginning of American history, the government played a minor role in poverty relief efforts, but over time the federal government’s role in poverty relief has increased. Still, the average age of the homeless is decreasing, and some experts believe the number of homeless peoples is increasing. However, while homelessness is an issue that grips and affects countless people in America, it is not a lost cause, and through the creation of more privately funded aid institutions, through the extension of government involvement, and through increasing public awareness, the issue may be solved.
It is impossible to name one cause as the root of all homelessness in America. Still, it is possible to list some of the contributing factors that can lead to homelessness. “Many factors contributed to the rise of homelessness since 1980” (Homelessness). Some factors that lead to homelessness include “unemployment caused by a loss of low-skill jobs; loss of affordable housing; and the fact that many mentally-ill patients were no longer being admitted to hospitals, but instead were being treated as outpatients” (Homelessness). While all these factors have been attributed to lead to homelessness, many experts believe that the number one issue is simply a lack of affordable housing. “Most of the housing in the United States costs far more than poor people can afford to rent or buy” (The Housing Problem). Therefore, the combination of a low income and a high price tag on houses can lead to homelessness. In the United States, a low income is defined as “a family of two with an annual income of less than $13,200… [or] a family of four…[with an income] less than $20,000” (The Housing Problem). Further, “researchers from every discipline agree that the number of housing units that are affordable to the poor is insufficient to meet needs” (The Housing Problem). Therefore, a major issue that leads to homelessness is simply a lack of affordable housing to meet the needs of all low income families.
For decades, society has tended to stereotype the homeless as drunken, middle-aged males that live on park benches or underneath a bridge. The stereotype was not purely created by prejudice and misconceptions, for “in the 1950s and 1960s, the average homeless person was a man in his mid-fifties” (Homelessness). However, “researchers have found that homeless people since the 1980s are different from homeless people studied in the 1950s and 1960s” (Homelessness). As the number of homeless people in America increases, the average age of the homeless tends to get younger (Homelessness). Researchers are finding that as of the late twentieth century, one-third to a quarter of homeless people were women, and 10% were children under the age 16 (Homelessness). Further, “homeless people in the late twentieth century tended to be much poorer than those at mid-century, and more of them are ethnic minorities” (Homelessness). In addition, while the public typically tends to believe that most homeless people are simply alcoholics that drank their jobs, money, and homes away, this is not the case; it is simply a stereotype that has been circulated since the 1840s (Homelessness, History of Association with Drugs and Alcohol). In reality, while many homeless people are alcoholics or drug addicts, their addictions were created by the depression that came with poverty (Homelessness, History of Association with Drugs and Alcohol). In addition, while “some popular treatments of the subject continue to claim that perhaps 85 percent of homeless people are substance abusers and/or mentally ill, such huge figures are drawn from old studies that were seriously flawed by two related methodological problems” (Homelessness, History of Association with Drugs and Alcohol). Therefore, in modern years, there has been a change in people most susceptible to becoming homeless, but out-dated stereotypes are still wide-spread.
Then, there is the issue of government involvement in relief efforts for the homeless. For decades, it was considered the responsibility of the cities or counties to provide relief to the homeless, but it was not a federal issue (Poverty and the Federal Government). The federal government did not play an active role in relief for the homeless until the New Deals of the Great Depression (Poverty and the Federal Government). For example, the Public Works Administration, founded in 1933 as one of the New Deal programs, was the “first federal agency to construct government-funded housing” (Homelessness). Even after the end of the Great Depression, the federal government continued to play a role in aiding the homeless. In 1965, “the Department of Housing and Urban Development began building public housing, in addition to offering housing vouchers to the poor, to help them pay for privately owned housing” (Homelessness). Despite government attempts at homeless relief efforts, the Department of Housing and Urban Development says while there were 23,000 recorded homeless people sleeping in shelters in 1980, by 1990 the number had grown to 190,000 recorded people sleeping in homeless shelters (Homelessness). Further, these statistics only represent “countable” homeless people, for the homeless peoples that do not seek refuge in shelters are not able to be counted, and therefore, are not taken into account in censuses. Therefore, while the government has increased its role in relief efforts for the homeless, the number of homeless people in the country is only increasing.
In response to the skyrocketing numbers of homeless people in America, “cities and private organizations [have been] rapidly [expanding] the availability of homeless shelters” (Homelessness). And the expansion of city and private organizations may be exactly what is needed to alleviate and even eliminate the issue of homelessness in America. It is impossible for the federal government to play watchdog over the whole national system of public housing to ensure it is used for appropriate reasons. However, privately funded homeless shelters, which obviously run on a smaller scale than the federal government, will have a better opportunity to meet the individual needs of those who walk through their doors, while regulating the amount help allocated to different individuals. Therefore, private organizations can take a step forward to eliminate homelessness by meeting the more individualized needs of those who go to them for aid.
Another solution to the issue would be to simply increase federal spending in aid of homelessness. “The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1987, the Stewart B. McKinney Homelessness Assistance Act, which provides federal funds to create or improve homeless shelters; to help the homeless live independently; to provide rental assistance to homeless people with disabilities; and to make available more single-room occupancy buildings” (Homelessness). However, in order to fix the situation, the government may take a different approach to the situation. “Federal programs for the homeless reflect a consensus that limited government help is important and necessary, but that homeless people also need to help themselves” (Dealing with the Problem of Homelessness). Therefore, instead of simply trying to house all the homeless, the government should focus on making jobs more accessible to the homeless. For by providing the homeless with work, the homeless will not be exclusively accepting funds and housing from the government, but instead, they will be provided with a means of bringing themselves out of their situation. Therefore, instead of increasing the production of public housing, the government should expand on programs to aid the homeless in finding paying work.
Finally, a simple, but possibly effective, tactic the country could take to eliminate homelessness would be to increase awareness on the issue. Currently, 68% of the homeless population in America is male, and 32% is female (Characteristics of Homelessness). Further, the “2006 Conference of Mayors survey [found] that 30% of homeless people were in families with children, 51% were single men, 17% were single women, and 2% were unaccompanied youth” (Characteristics of Homelessness). In addition, “38% had less than a high school diploma, 34% had completed high school, and 28% had some education beyond high school” (Characteristics of Homelessness). Therefore, these statistics show that people of all different levels of education, sex, and circumstances are equally likely to become homeless. However, most people continue to stereotype the homeless as single, drunken, middle-aged men. In addition, people tend to cling to the timeless illusion of “that could never happen to me.” Yet, reality tells a different story, as homeless rates increase. But perhaps, if awareness on the issue is brought to people of all different circumstances, races, and socio-economic classes, the problem could be exterminated. In order to bring awareness, programs that educate the public about the realities of homelessness could be created to bring a new life to the situation. Also, some programs could be designed to provide families and individuals with financial counseling that will better equip them to make wise budgeting decisions that could prevent them from falling into poverty or homelessness. And by raising awareness and by breaking old, the public will become better informed on the issue, and they will be able to take their individual, precautionary measures to prevent themselves from falling into homelessness. Therefore, by simply bringing attention to the facts of homelessness and educating society about ways to prevent themselves from becoming homeless, the issue of homelessness itself could be eradicated.
Homelessness is an issue that has cast a shadow on America since the country was formed. While government involvement to alleviate the issue has significantly increased over time, the number of homeless people in America has also increased significantly. However, through the expansion of private organizations or federal government involvement, the number of homeless people in America could possibly be lessened. But to completely eradicate, or come close to eradicating, the issue of homelessness, awareness must be brought to the issue. People must be taught that homelessness is not limited to only a specific type of peoples. People must be better informed on the issue. People must receive financial counseling and take measures to prevent themselves from becoming homeless. If the country can band together to accomplish this, then perhaps America will see the rise of a new generation of informed individuals that will eradicate the issue.
Works Cited
Doak, Melissa J. "Characteristics of the Homeless." Social Welfare: Fighting Poverty and Homelessness. Detroit
Doak, Melissa J. "Dealing with the Problem of Homelessness." Social Welfare: Fighting Poverty and Homelessness. Detroit
Doak, Melissa J. "The Housing Problem." Social Welfare: Fighting Poverty and Homelessness. Detroit
Korsmeyer, Pamela, and Henry R. Kranzler, eds. "Homelessness, History of Association with Alcohol and Drugs." Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol, and Addictive Behavior. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit : Macmillan Reference USA
Sreenivasan, Jyotsna. "Homelessness." Poverty and the Government in America Santa Barbara
Sreenivasan, Jyotsna. "Poverty and the Federal Government." Poverty and the Government in America Santa Barbara
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