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Alex Nguyen

Ali M. Meghdadi

English 39C/ Section 33321

February 13, 2015

An Endless Cycle

The problem

The risk of urbanization is whether we have enough opportunities and resources for the

many immigrants coming to America. If there are not enough resources such as jobs or homes,

both immigrants and Americans will be living a life of poverty. With not enough programs and

support, it is nearly impossible to recover from poverty. Without jobs, not everyone can afford

basic human needs. A recession can and has happen in America causing many Americans to lose

their jobs and became homeless. The major problem that causes homelessness is failure to meet

financial need and paying one’s bill. Natural catastrophes like earthquakes, hurricane, or fire can

destroy homes and put people into homeless positions. Family breakdown and disputes, sexual

and physical abused, drugs or alcohol can occur throughout a person’s life and influences

whether one becomes homeless or not. It is urgent that there will be programs and support to

fight against these problems. It is possible to stop poverty but in order to do so; we need to

support each other. It is difficult to gather support because of misconceived ideas about

homelessness.

Why people do not care?

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People fear homeless off the “presumptions that they are beggars, addicts, mentally ill or

violent” (Yook). People associate the idea of homelessness with the characteristics of laziness

and hostility. Majority of American would think it is their fault for being poor and because they

are not resilient enough to get out of their own situation, it is their fault. Just because people

work hard, overcome struggles, and succeed in surpassing the poverty line does not mean that

those who are homeless did not work hard. It does not mean that they are lazy and did not

overcome struggles. According to Paul Toro, a psychology professor at Wayne State University,

“Toro found that compared to other countries, people who live in countries like the United States

that have more capitalistic economies are more likely to believe personal failings are the primary

cause of homelessness and feel less compassion for homeless people” (Figueroa). There are

people in society who do not realize that these poor people are the same as everyone else in the

world but born in different environment or because of tragic events that happened, not because

they failed. If the community is more aware of the cause for their lack of a job, education, or

home, people might be more compassionate and thus, willing to lend a hand instead of having

these preconceived notions about homelessness.

Why people should care

Homeless people have the highest rates of health and substance abuse. This makes them

more vulnerable to diseases and drugs which cause a greater strain on emergency services

(Covert). Although it takes resources to help homeless people, if homeless people are not helped,

it costs more. According to Bryce Covert, an economic policy editor, “The costs of putting the

homeless in jail for violating ordinances or putting them in the hospital for emergency care

are three times as expensive as helping homeless people find a place to live. One Florida county

spent more than $5 million over a decade jailing just 37 homeless people; on the other hand, one

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apartment complex for the homeless in North Carolina saved $1.8 million in its first year”

(Covert).The money that is being used to jail homeless people and emergency care can be instead

used to find housing for homeless people. If homeless people are sheltered, they would not have

to deal with the unsanitary streets and violence. They would not need the emergency care if they

are in a safe environment. Many homeless sleeping on the street sleep in fear of being attacked,

abused, and robbed. Many of these homeless have been subjected to police harassment such as

being unfairly searched and arrested. The cold, hunger, fear, lack of personal hygiene damages

their mental and physical health. Most do not shower or wash their clothes because they do have

access to showers or washing machines. Poor housing conditions increase risk of severe health

problems by 25 percent during childhood and early adulthood.

The children living with parents who are homeless are affected by the poor environment

they are in. They are “twice as likely as other children to leave school without any general

certification of secondary education.” This is a problem because education is one of the solutions

to end poverty. With less people becoming educated, they will not be able to get higher wages to

meet living expenses resulting in more people under the poverty line and eventually becoming

homeless. “The U.S. Department of Education revealed that the number of homeless students in

the United States is on the rise and has been for decades. Their survey found that during the

2012-2013 school year, there were 1.3 million homeless students in the U.S” (Peer). The 1.3

million homeless students does not include the children that are too young for school. An

average of 2.5 million kids is homeless annually. Education is what we need in this constantly

developing world. Every year new technologies come out. Educated people know how to use it

to benefit them, whereas uneducated people are unaware and cannot be efficient. Education helps

develop our reasoning and helps people understand what is right and wrong and the

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consequences that comes from their actions. Without education, there will be chaos all around.

With kids not being able to focus in school, they will not develop the necessary skills to be

successful in their life and will end up homeless themselves. It is a repeating cycle of poverty

and homelessness.

According to the British Medical Association, “anxiety and depression are three times as

common among homeless children”. Homeless children have six times as many speeches and

stammering problems compared with non-homeless children. Evidence suggests that homeless

children tend to have lower academic achievements which can increase the likelihood of insecure

or low-paid jobs or unemployment in the future. With all these obstacles pitted against them

during their formative years, children growing up in bad housing often spend the rest of their

lives struggling to catch up. Evidence also suggests that those who suffer bad housing run an

increased risk of homelessness in adulthood.

How to make people start caring?

Increase in awareness of non-profit sectors is a stepping stone to solving the problem of

poverty. According to Dan Pallotta, the non-profit sectors is put into a disadvantaged position in

many aspect compared to profit sectors. Non-profit cannot use money to lure talent away from

the for-profit sector. This is because people do not want to take that lifelong economic challenge

when being a part of a non-profit. It is more beneficial for a person to make lots of money

working for a for-profit organization than a non-profit. A graduate in business out of Stanford

University gets an average of 400,000 dollars, whereas a CEO of a 5 million dollar charity is

232,000 dollars and a CEO of a hunger charity is 84,000 dollars. The non-profit cannot advertise

on the same scale as the for-profit sector. In a for-profit organization, they spend millions of

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dollars on advertising in order to get their product out to the public but non-profit are

discriminated if they spend any amount of money for advertising. If there is no advertising, how

are people going to know about the cause? People prefer if their money to go to the actual cause

instead of overhead. This is a misconception between the world, overhead is not bad, it actually

is good because it brings in much more money for the cause. The non-profit cannot take risks

like the for-profit. If the for-profit spend hundreds thousands of dollars on a movie that has

horrible rating, it is okay. No one is going to sue the entertainment industry, however, if the non-

profit organization does not reach “75 percent profit to the cause in the first 12 months”

(Pallotta). People start to question the person’s character. They are limited in the amount of times

and at the same time they are pressured to do what they’re said. They have to make money and

they cannot get funds for their organization by offering profit to the donors in order to receive

the investment. Amazon made no profit for six years but the sponsors did not question its

authority. No one would want to support the cause and wait six years for something to happen

for the non-profit. In a for-profit organization, you can provide profit to attract capital from

people’s ideas but in a non-profit, it cannot provide profit. These disadvantages have contributed

greatly to the defeat of non-profit organization all over the world. The number of non-profit

organization that crosses the $50 million dollar annual revenue barrier is 144, whereas, the for-

profit organization is 46,136 (Pallotta).

What they can do?

People Assisting the Homeless, (PATH), was formed in 1983. PATH was created by

simply writing a letter to the community. Attendance was not mandatory and voluntary. 60

people showed up and they had a discussing on how to help people who were homeless in their

neighborhood. The group started distributing food and clothing to those on the street. That is all

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it takes to help out the homeless. Writing a letter is cheap and putting it in a mailbox is easy.

Once some supporters gather, it is possible to gather some extra supplies everyone do not use

and donate it to the homeless. Another way to help the homeless if time is an issue is through

social media. Social media is a great way to spread awareness for those experiencing

homelessness. It is free and effective. P.A.T.H has a Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram,

and a blog. It only takes a minute to click a button to share knowledge with friends and the

world. An hour a day can be used to prepare lunch for homeless. Brings friends and make this

an enjoyable experience. An hour a day is enough time to organize a hygiene kit for those living

on the streets. An hour a day can get a person started fundraising for PATH. A day can get a

person involved in PATH and volunteer or interning. You can hire, house, or help homeless.

Putting homeless to work brings great positive development in a homeless lives. If you have

extra space, it is possible to house them. Donating can be as easy as a sending an email.

What will not work

Raising the minimum wage will not solve poverty or help homeless. The B.C. Federation is

having a campaign to increase the minimum wage from $10.25 per hour to $15 an hour. That

might sound helpful for those who have jobs but the people who are in poverty are not those that

earn minimum wage. Those that work at minimum wage are considered low income. As more

workers gain higher wages, their increase in wage comes at the expense of losing employment

opportunities. It is the young and low skilled workers, who are affected since they possess less

job qualification and experience. The result of increasing minimum rage reduces young people’s

opportunity to gain work experience that helps them develop basic skills in order to earn higher

levels of income. The higher the minimum wage, the more qualification the employer will

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expect. That will prevent anyone, especially homeless people getting jobs because most do not

have an address, transportation, and a form of communication.

Bibliography

Covert, Bryce. "The Government Is Proving That Homelessness Is A Solvable

Problem." ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., 28 Aug. 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

Pallotta, Dan. “The way we think about charity is dead wrong. TED. Mar. 2013. Lecture

Peer, Karisa. ""It's a Hard-Knock Life for Us": Homeless Children's Invisibility in U.S. Schools

and Beyond – Poverty Insights." "It's a Hard-Knock Life for Us": Homeless Children's

Invisibility in U.S. Schools and Beyond – Poverty Insights. N.p., 15 Dec. 2014. Web. 13

Feb. 2015.

"What Is It like to Be Homeless?" - Shelter England. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2015.