Homelessness

It is a problem that we can see all over the world; every country has its lot of homeless people and it’s getting worse every day.  Sometimes I ask myself what are the causes for such a thing and looking at it there is a bunch.  It sometimes depends on so many factors like war, or natural causes (earthquake, tsunami, storm, etc) that it’s getting harder to fight. 

They said that America is the “land of opportunity” and “second chance” but if you look at the rate of homelessness in the USA, like me you may be wondering what it does mean.  The “not so funny” in all of this is that the ones most affected by this problem are veterans who had risked their lives in wars overseas (useless most of the time) to serve and protect this country.  It’s really a shame.

According to The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP), Homelessness stems from a lack of affordable housing. Increasing rents, destruction of traditional low-income housing, and cuts in federal housing programs threaten affordable housing with extinction.

One-third of the homeless population is made up of families.

To end homelessness, new policies must be implemented to address its fundamental causes:

Lack of Affordable Housing

Almost half of the homeless population works, but does not earn enough to pay for housing.

Lagging Incomes

Incomes for the poorest Americans have not kept pace with rising housing costs. Millions of workers are shut out of the private housing market.

Slashed Services and Government Assistance

As earned income for the poor is decreasing, assistance programs have been severely cut.

Opinion polls show that the majority of Americans support solutions to end homelessness. But, to achieve this goal, vigorous advocacy is needed.