Facts on Homelessness

Homelessness affects people of every race, age, creed, and social status, and no one in particular is discriminated against. Roughly on any given evening, between 700,000 and two million people are considered homeless in the United States alone. With some, it changes on a day to basis while with others it is a way of life. By reaching out and helping those who live on the streetstreet by volunteering time or money is a small step in a positive direction to help with this worldwide epidemic.

Identification

Being able to identify a homeless person may not be as easy as one thinks; some homeless people appear to blend in with society and many even have jobs and go to school every day. A homeless person can often be found seeking refuge in a shelter, with family members, living in a motel, campground, in their automobiles, underneath physical public structures such as viaducts and building cubbies, benches or in worst cases on the bare ground with a blanket or a cardboard box. A homeless person can be any age, young or old and wear decent clean clothes or on the contrary, may wear raggedy clothes that are dirty and soiled.

Types

There are different types of homeless people, ones who were there by choice, ones who were forced to the streets because of abuse and neglect, ones who became homeless due to a drug habit or alcoholism, those who are temporarily on the streets due to lack of finding any type of housing and those forced to the streets who are running away from the law. Some homeless people make their living off of the streets such as prostitutes, hustlers, pan handlers and drug dealers. Runaway teens also take to the streets to avoid living in abusive homes, or maybe they are running from juvenile authorities or the law; in either case, they often times turn to stealing, selling their bodies and also abusing drugs just to survive on the streets. Single parents with their small children also live on the streets, sleeping in their vehicles at night or sometimes in shelters or in abandoned buildings.

Effects

The effects that homelessness has on a person can be detrimental. Self-pride and self-esteem can feel ripped away with a negative feeling of self worth as well a loss of accomplishment in life. It can be difficult for homeless people to regain stability in their lives, especially when they have lost most of their personal belongings as well as their homes and family and friends. Many times, homeless people will have to start from scratch and rebuild a foundation for their lives once they feel they can adequately support themselves and their families.

Misconceptions

One of the main misconceptions of homeless people is that they fall underneath a certain stereotype as maybe being a drunk, a drug addict, a criminal, a failure and an overall bad person in society. This is typically untrue of most of the homeless population. Most homeless people once lived prosperous and successful lives, had a nice family life, attended school, maybe even college, had a successful career and a new automobile, but somewhere along the way made a poor choice financially or made one mistake where they lost everything, such as a divorce, bankruptcy or loss of job. Some chose to make a poor isolated choice when it comes to drugs and alcohol and ended up losing their livelihood before they could clear up their habits. For each homeless face, there is a story behind why that person is there; no one has the right judge or criticize someone else's lifestyle without first knowing the facts behind why they are there in the first place.

Prevention/Solution

Homelessness is a worldwide epidemic; in some of the most prosperous places in the world, there are homeless people who have nowhere to sleep at night. By supporting organizations such as the Salvation Army that assist the homeless population in relocating, rehabilitation and treatment, allows for funding to go to the right sources, so that when someone needs help, he can easily receive it. Educating society on treating homeless people with dignity and respect will help raise awareness and prevent abuse among the homeless population.

Resources

• Homeless Resources
• Salvation Army