Understanding Homelessness
♫ Thursday, January 13th, 2011Homelessness has been a much discussed and much misunderstood problem confronting our urban and rural communities throughout America as well as any other parts of the world. Estimates of the number of homeless people in the United States range from a low of 300,000 to several million. The problem increased dramatically in the United States during the 1980s as nearly seventy-five percent of the resources allocated by the federal government for low-and moderate-income housing were slashed. Other factors cause homelessness too. Floods, fires tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes, which are clearly beyond our control, also put people out of these homes. The way we respond to the homeless is well within our control, however. Other causes of Homelessness, such as displacement as a result of war, redevelopment, zoning,code enforcement, highway and airport construction, are well within our control from their inception.
The largest and fastest growing segment of the homeless population is single-parent families with children. Another primary factor affecting low-and moderate-income families with children is the failure of state and local governments and the private sector to adopt policies and priorities that would insure maintenance of an adequate supply of decent, affordable housing for those who need it. A related dimension of homelessness is the condition of substandard quality of their housing is often unsafe or unhealthy. Interacting with people who are actually homeless will probably not be feasible for most families unless you visit a shelter at night or make some guesses about individuals you see along the street. Imagine what life must be like for the people who live in it.






