David J.

Clemente Vega

09/26/21

Mrs. Brandon

Essay 2 (week 10)

Research Paper (The Homeless)

Homelessness is a big problem that many cities and states are facing and going through;

especially in America. The number of homeless people has been increasing over the past

decades. A lot of people, including families, veterans, and workers go through this situation

and live without food, water, and a place to live. This problem should be solved as soon as

possible because it is considered a major crisis. The question is why a lot of people are going

through this? and what has been done about it?.

Many people think that homeless families or people are there because they decide to be there,

or just because they did not make good choices in life. The truth is that not everyone who is

homeless decides to be there. In my opinion, nobody would like to have that lifestyle. We

don’t know what that person went through and why they ended up in that situation. There is a

saying that says “Don’t Judge A Book by its Cover”. What is the government doing to help

these people? What are we as humans doing to create a better future and what are those

homeless people doing to change their lives?.

There has been a series of statistical methods that the government has been using to count and

maintain a percentage of homeless people. According to How Do You Count The Homeless

In America NewsPaper Article:

Advocates for the homeless need reliable data each year to pinpoint how many people

will need services and whether last year's [2015] efforts are actually working. But tracking

down a large and moving population is a complicated process that requires short- and

long-term tallies, and both local and nationwide data, to provide a meaningful picture. (“How

Do You Count Homeless In America’’).

This data or information help the state or cities to keep the number and percentage of

homeless people.

Having a high percentage of Homeless people affects our future and our kid’s future. When

the next generation sees this they might start asking questions and wondering why this is

happening. Is just not affecting our kids, but is affecting the youth. According to Youth

Homelessness Statistics & Facts “Young homeless people often become homeless in order to

escape violence or abuse happening in their homes such as physical and sexual abuse and

neglect. This includes LGBTQ youth (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or questioning)”

(“Youth Homelessness Statistics & Facts”).

Young people are affected because of many different reasons. According to the article (young

people become homeless due to a systemic issue like safe and stable housing, due to a lack of

affordable housing, Gentrification of urban areas has increased housing costs beyond the

means of poor families and many more). If the youth keep being affected because of this

situation, we are not going to have a better future. Young people are the next generation and

this is why I believe that we should enforce to have stronger families. Schools and the

government should be offering programs to help families and young adults that are going

through this situation.

According to the article Youth Homelessness Statistics & Facts “Overall, unaccompanied

homeless youth represent 6% of the total homeless population in the United States” (HUD,

2017). “On a single night in 2016, there was approximately 35,686 unaccompanied homeless

youth throughout all of the United States”(HUD, 2017). These quotations show that the

percentage is high.
Now let’s talk about the homeless in general. Homeless people are seen as a burden. Many

people reject them. I do not agree with the fact that people see them as a burden but I

understand their point of view. They are seen as a burden because of their actions. For

example; asking for money in the lights, or food, or cleaning the car windows for money,

etc… There is a high level of percentage of adults who live in the street (homeless).

According to the book or sources that I was reading; called: The Homeless: An increasing

Population “ In the 2010 United States census, 209,000 people were classified as homeless,

living in emergency and transitional shelters such as missions, hotels, motels, and designated

shelters run by private and government organizations”(Rosen 7).

There has been helps that has been given through the government for homeless people. This

helps had a great impact on homeless people. According to How Can You Count The

Homeless In America Article “To fight homelessness on a national level, and strategically

design programs like Obama's $11 billion request for homeless families, the Department of

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) mandates that cities receiving funding report

homelessness data in two parts: an annual point-in-time census, conducted on a single night

in January, and an aggregated annual report of services offered, to help compile a more

holistic picture” (Jackson 2016).

This help was given to different families, and it helped other people to get out of

homelessness, to find homes, to find a job, etc… There has been health care services for

homeless people as well. One of these health programs is called Shelter-Based Clinics. These

shelters provided health services to all homeless people. “Recognizing a need to bring

services to where homeless people can be found, those involved with shelters or health care
have developed on-site clinics at shelter locations”(“Homelessness, Health, and Human

Needs'').

Another program that helped homeless people was called The Johnson- Pew Health Care for

the homeless project. This project was created with the purpose to deliver health care services

to homeless people. This program started and was founded by Robert Wood Johnson in

Philadelphia. “The National Health Care for the Homeless program was developed to provide

cities (applications were limited to the 50 largest cities in the United States) with an

opportunity to make a significant impact on health care delivery to the homeless”

(“Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs'').

There were outreach programs that helped homeless people as well. These programs were in

charge of traveling to different places to meet homeless people. They provide food and other

services that are needed. These were non-profit programs and were supported by churches,

companies, and major prosperous places. “Donations from individuals, churches, community

groups, and small grantors. It used a combination of paid staff and volunteers’’

(“Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs'').

Another help given to homeless people is free center services, in general; and rehabilitation

centers. What is a rehabilitation center? Place that takes the action of restoring someone's

health or normal life through training and therapy after imprisonment, addiction, or illness.

This center helps people that were mentally affected. Several staff and committees visited

several rehabilitation centers to provide the necessary material and services for people with

mental health problems. “ The committee and staff visited several programs for the homeless
mentally ill. In addition to serving as potential models for services to chronically mentally ill

homeless people, they are also possible solutions to the problems of other subpopulations”

(“5 Health Care Services for Homeless People”).

Last but not least I want to talk about the Rescue Missions Services. This committee was in

charge of visiting clinics. They worked offering social services , health care services and

housing. “ The committee visited volunteer clinics located at rescue missions in Kansas City,

Los Angeles, Nashville, and San Dieg” (“Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs'').

In conclusion, there is a high percentage of homeless people but there are places and people

who are willing to help these people. In this argumentative research paper, I decide to explain

problems that homeless people are going through and I offer examples of what the

community and the government is doing to help them as well. We saw a variety of examples

that demonstrate political, social and historical information views.

Citations
Book Citation

THE NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL STAFF. The Homeless: An Increasing Population .

New York: New York Times Educational Publishing, 2020.

Newspaper Citation

Jackson, Molly. "How do You Count the Homeless in America?" Christian Science Monitor,

10 Feb 2016. SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2265793502?accountid=45779.

Website Citations

“Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs.” NCBI, 1988.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK218235/

Johnson, Ben. “10 facts about homelessness in America.” Action Institute, Sep. 23.

https://www.acton.org/publications/transatlantic/2019/09/23/10-facts-about-homelessness-am

erica#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIn%20January%202018%2C%20552%2C830%20people%20we

re%20counted%20as,358%2C363%20%2865%20percent%29%20were%20sheltered%E2%8

0%9D%20in%20temporary%20housing.

“Youth Homelessness Statistics and Facts.” SafeHorizon, 2021.

https://www.safehorizon.org/get-informed/homeless-youth-statistics-facts/#our-programs/

“Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs”. NCBI,

1988.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK218239/