Running head: About the Homeless Dorsey 1

About the Homeless

Joshua Dorsey

Sport and Medical Sciences Academy

Many people may think, “Oh they’re homeless because they’re Alcoholics” or “If I give

them money they’re just going to buy drugs.” These are common thoughts amongst most people.
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Everyone thinks that the homeless are responsible for where they are, but are just uneducated

about homelessness in general. Most individuals suffer from PTSD, natural disasters, a loss of a

loved one and many other reasons. Homeless people have gone through challenging times and, in

most cases, have not chosen that life. A problem that most homeless people face is lack of

housing, forcing them to live on the streets or in their cars. America is known for how many jobs

that are available. Less fortunate people have a hard time finding these jobs because they can’t

meet necessary conditions to maintain a steady income. Maybe if people were educated about

homelessness than everyone would be willing to help them out by donating materials such as

clothes, food, and toiletries.

Poverty has affected the homeless in many crucial ways including how much prices have

been inflated. With the price changes in society it has caused many individuals to sacrifice parts

of their daily life. In 2015, a report named the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty,

stated that “After paying their rent and utilities, 75% of ELI households end up with less than

half of their income left to pay for necessities such as food, medicine, transportation, or

childcare.” This stat analyzes that after paying for their homes, most low income families

struggle to pay for most necessities. People choose to be homeless sometimes just so they can

afford other necessities as stated in the quote above. They don‘t want to be without a home but it

is their only option if they want to stay alive. “Cost of living was up 2.9 percent from July 2017

to July 2018” (Long, 2018). This statistic can help explain how much the prices have increased

and why housing is so much more expensive nowadays. Poverty is one of the biggest issues

when it comes to homeless people and it’s only getting worse.

Some common conceptions about homeless people are spread across the globe so

everyone just thinks that they’ve abused drugs and alcohol. There’s some homeless people that
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try to better themselves over time but then there are others that are perfectly content in their

condition.. Living on the streets is very dangerous and unhealthy at most times which is a factor

that every homeless person understands. “700 people died in the U.S. from exposure in 2009.

Remaining on the streets also puts homeless people at risk of violence, including murder, assault,

rape, and theft” (Skinner, 2016). This quote can statistically show how dangerous the streets

actually are by providing several examples that the homeless have to look out for every single

day. “The Bureau of Sanitation spent at least $547,000 in a year on cleanup of homeless

encampments” (Wurden, 2018). Homeless people have no place to even use the bathroom

causing others to pay to clean it up. Thoughts that people may think about homeless people may

be “they’re irresponsible because they’re dirty” but this isn’t the case. They aren’t the cleanest

people because most of them don’t have the privilege of showering every day. Sometimes they

go weeks without a shower, so they just have to make do with what they have.

The homeless are not only alcoholics and druggies. They have had hardships throughout

their life leading to where they are today. In addition to PTSD and the loss of a loved one, The

State of Homelessness in America researched that in 2019, “Severe mental illness, substance

abuse problems, histories of incarceration, low incomes, and weak social connections each

increase an individual’s risk of homelessness, and higher prevalence in the population of these

factors may increase total homelessness.” There are many reasons for people being homeless and

there are also many solutions to help them out. The most common option is donating. People

donate all over the world to the homeless but it is never enough. Shelters are always in need of

supplies ranging from any clothes to femine products to water bottles. Researchers have proven

that helping the homeless out in even the slightest ways can have a tremendous impact on their

lives. “When people are housed, they can more easily and effectively work towards resolving
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issues such as alcoholism, drug addiction and mental illness” (Husted, 2018). When this quote

says housing the homeless, this also includes them living in shelters. Even though there is a

countless number of shelters, approximately 200,000 homeless people are unsheltered every

night in the United States (The State of Homelessness in America, 2019). This is a huge issue

throughout this world and it can be solved by just a couple of simple solutions.

Finding and maintaining a house/apartment can be very costly. On average across the

United States, to afford an apartment, you need to be earning more than the minimum wage. “In

Connecticut the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,285… In order to

afford this level of rent and utilities — without paying more than 30 percent of income on

housing — a household must earn $4,285 monthly or $51,420 annually. Assuming a 40-hour

work week, 52 weeks per year, this level of income translates into an hourly Housing Wage of

$24.72" (Branch, 2016). This type of issue is very common amongst several states including

California, Miami, New York and Connecticut. Many of the homeless can not maintain a steady

job due to lack of sanitation, many jobs require having a home address and some individuals

have physical/mental disabilities. Affording a house or apartment on only minimum wage is a

huge obstacle when you’re homeless.

The homeless are often considered beggars or lazy people. But, a high percentage of

them are homeless for many reasons. To even afford an apartment in the United States you have

to be making more than minimum wage. There is extreme poverty in America that impacts it

very much. This poverty causes many people to be homeless due to homes being highly

overpriced and unaffordable. These homeless people do not have it easy and often have to rely

on others so they can survive. Even though donating is vastly promoted through social media and

word of mouth, shelters and the homeless always need more supplies. People are uneducated
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about the homeless so they make wrong assumptions about them all the time. Maybe if people

were educated about homeless people then they wouldn’t be thinking that they’re less of a person

than they are.

References

Shay, K. (2019, February 27). Why Don't Homeless People Just Get Jobs? Retrieved from

https://soapboxie.com/social-issues/why-homeless-people-dont-just-get-a-job

Branch, A. (2016, June 02). How Much Do You Have to Make to Afford an Apartment in CT?

Retrieved from https://patch.com/connecticut/durham/how-much-do-you-have-make-afford-

apartment-ct-0
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Yamashiro, A. (2019, June). Early Childhood Homelssness State Profiles 2019. Retrieved from

https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/disadv/homeless/early-childhood-homelessness-state-profiles-

2019.pdf

National Coalition for the Homeless (Date unknown). Why Are People Homeless? Retrieved

from http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/Why.pdf

National Law Center on Homeless & Poverty (Date Unknown). Homelessness in America:

Overview of Data and Causes. Retrieved from https://nlchp.org/wp-

content/uploads/2018/10/Homeless_Stats_Fact_Sheet.pdf

The Council of Economic Advisers (2019, September). The State of Homelessness in America.

Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-State-of-

Homelessness-in-America.pdf

Department of Commerce (Date Unknown). Homelessness Myths and Facts. Retrieved from

http://www.commerce.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/hau-chg-mythsfacts-12-8-2016.pdf
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