Jada Sayles
In the recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of homeless people in America, “more than 326,000 people (about half the population of Wyoming) experienced sheltered homelessness in the United States on a single night in 2021” (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). Specifically, in Atlanta “In 2020, just months before the pandemic hit, the count indicated 3,240 homeless, with 939 unsheltered.” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) this number has doubled since the pandemic. The underlying issue here is the number of people being forced to sleep on the streets and that those people cannot provide for themselves.
There are many things we could do to help these people for example, building shelters and soup kitchens “I feel like the government should put up more homeless shelters because that would also open up more jobs for people” (Janna Cleckley Junior at Hillgrove). The problem with homeless shelters now is that they are overcrowded and end up leaving people on the streets due to their lack of open beds. The worst part about this is that the people who are homeless end up in the worst parts of the city, the areas effected by drugs and gang violence.
The effects of homelessness can last an entire lifetime for those who cannot afford to live in these expensive cities. One of the consequences of a capitalist society is the gap between the 1% and the working class. Over the years this wealth gap has widened, worsening the causes of homelessness and poverty. To fix the poverty and wealth gap the government would need to do many things such as raising wages for the working class and creating more accessible jobs for the homeless people so they can have a stable source of income and be able to move themselves off the streets and into homes.
When people come across homeless people on the streets, they often ignore them because most people were told as children that it is not safe to interact with them or to not give them money because they could hurt you, which is true in some instances. This is because negative stereotypes have been associated with them for a long time. “I was raised not to I mean I would out of the kindness of my heart because I don’t like seeing people struggling but I was taught not to as a child because giving homeless people money could be dangerous at times” (Courtney Parks Junior at Hillgrove). The problem with giving homeless people money is that some will use it for the wrong purposes and not to support themself with food or water. There are many things we could do to solve the issue of homelessness in America, but it is up to the people who created these issues to solve them.
In the recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of homeless people in America, “more than 326,000 people (about half the population of Wyoming) experienced sheltered homelessness in the United States on a single night in 2021” (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). Specifically, in Atlanta “In 2020, just months before the pandemic hit, the count indicated 3,240 homeless, with 939 unsheltered.” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) this number has doubled since the pandemic. The underlying issue here is the number of people being forced to sleep on the streets and that those people cannot provide for themselves.
There are many things we could do to help these people for example, building shelters and soup kitchens “I feel like the government should put up more homeless shelters because that would also open up more jobs for people” (Janna Cleckley Junior at Hillgrove). The problem with homeless shelters now is that they are overcrowded and end up leaving people on the streets due to their lack of open beds. The worst part about this is that the people who are homeless end up in the worst parts of the city, the areas effected by drugs and gang violence.
The effects of homelessness can last an entire lifetime for those who cannot afford to live in these expensive cities. One of the consequences of a capitalist society is the gap between the 1% and the working class. Over the years this wealth gap has widened, worsening the causes of homelessness and poverty. To fix the poverty and wealth gap the government would need to do many things such as raising wages for the working class and creating more accessible jobs for the homeless people so they can have a stable source of income and be able to move themselves off the streets and into homes.
When people come across homeless people on the streets, they often ignore them because most people were told as children that it is not safe to interact with them or to not give them money because they could hurt you, which is true in some instances. This is because negative stereotypes have been associated with them for a long time. “I was raised not to I mean I would out of the kindness of my heart because I don’t like seeing people struggling but I was taught not to as a child because giving homeless people money could be dangerous at times” (Courtney Parks Junior at Hillgrove). The problem with giving homeless people money is that some will use it for the wrong purposes and not to support themself with food or water. There are many things we could do to solve the issue of homelessness in America, but it is up to the people who created these issues to solve them.
