Understanding The Cause Of Hom Essay -- essays research papers

"Being homeless is often defined as sleeping on the streets. Although this is the most visible and severe form of homelessness, there are many other types of acute housing need. These include living in temporary accommodation, poor or overcrowded conditions, or being in mortgage arrears and under threat of re-possession." (Hope 1986) It is a symptom of many complex problems: mental illness, emotional instability, illiteracy, chronic substance abuse, unemployment, and, most basic of all, breakdown of the family structure. Anyone can become homeless and the reasons that force people into homelessness are many and varied. The leading cause, however, of homelessness in the United States is the inability of poor people to afford housing. "Housing costs have risen significantly over the last decade, while the incomes of poor and middle-class Americans have stagnated." (Erickson 1991) The millions of Americans who are unemployed or work in low-paying jobs are among the most vulnerable to becoming homeless. Therefore, homelessness, housing and income are inextricably linked. Low-income people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, child-care, health care, and education. Difficult choices must be made when limited resources cover only some of these necessities. Often it is housing, which takes a high proportion of income that must be dropped. Two major sources of income are from employment and public assistance. A decrease in either one of them would certainly put poor people at risk of homelessness. Additionally, minimum wage earnings no longer lift families above the poverty line. "More than 3 million poor Americans spend more than half of their total income on housing, yet the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates families should spend no more than 30%." (Gilbert 1993) Although many homeless adults are employed, they work in day-labor jobs that do not meet basic needs, while technological acceleration excludes others from a competitive job market. Many factors have contributed to declining work opportunities for large segments of the workforce, including the loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs. The decline in relatively secure and well-paying jobs in manufacturing, which have been replaced by less secure and poorly-paid jobs in the service sector, has greatly limited the opportunities for poorly-educate... ...ehabilitation of old buildings by minimal funding are common projects to provide shelters for the homeless people. However, some observers suggests that making "the renovation of buildings for low-income housing attractive, that is, profitable, for developers or investors" (Urban Land 1986) can be the solution to the homeless problem. Our examination makes it clear that piecemeal intervention can alleviate emergency shelter crises, but such action will not resolve the long-term problem of finding permanent shelter for the homeless and returning them to the mainstream of society wherever possible, which we regard as the ultimate goal of intervention. Equally obvious is that while long-term intervention strategies are vital, they do not address the problems of survival for those presently without shelter and support. We conclude that both long-term and short-term measures are necessary, but that all the solutions should be based on integrated, comprehensive understanding of the homelessness problem. Only such a comprehensive approach will allow planners to develop workable strategies with any chance for success.