Essay on Issue of Homeless

Every day some people in California are experiencing homelessness, and this means that they are sleeping outside or in an emergency shelter or transitional housing. From 2013 to 2016, the time when the country has been recovering from the great recession, there is a decrease in the number of homelessness by 2.5% among every significant sub-population, unsheltered individuals, 2.5% declines on chronically homeless people and 10% among the veterans. America one of the country in the world with an unemployment rate of less than 5%, it is interesting to exploit the research question to identify the cause of this social issue and initiative out in place. The history of homelessness can be traced back to the 18th century when the society becomes more divided that before. There existed social classes in the society whereby the poor had to work for the rich in the name of slaves (Schneider & Remillard. Despite the number of jobs, the low class in the society did, they were still paid little. The rich continued becoming richer as the poor became poorer, the same trend that has been experienced in the 20th century as the gap between the rich and the poor has widened (Fulton). A lot of people at the moment cannot afford the basic needs in the society such as shelter due to the increasing gap between the poor and rich. It has been established that approximately one billion people, representing globally do not have adequate housing, this comprises those who live in their cars, street, and various makeshift shelters. As a human race, we have a problem when 1/6 of the human race are homeless (Echenberg). In California, at least 115,000 people are living on streets, and studies show that the number has increased in recent years. Even though the state has taken different approaches, the state homeless population continues to grow (Gale).

Primary Research

I carried out a primary research to try and find out the level of awareness regarding homeless. I prepared some questionnaire, interviews to collect information. From the study, I was clear that most of my friends were aware of the issue of homelessness claiming that this is something visible while making their way to school as the homeless always sleep on streets among another place. My friend comes from different parts of the state, and everyone has experienced this in their locality, this shows how widespread the issue is.

Solutions to Homeless Issue

The first way is to raise the welfare rates so as to help individuals to pay their rent. The wealthy people in the society and the taxpayers should spare some amount to street services that can be used to pay rent or build houses for this people. Secondly, there should be the training of young workers. Studies show that individuals that have been discharged from prisons and drug addicts are at risk of becoming homeless (Stroh, David &Goodman). These people should be provided with necessary skills such taking them to technical universities so that they can employ themselves and earn a living. Lastly, the relevant people should make the house affordable and increase the number of units to enable people to rent them units at a lower price (Henwood, et al.).

How to Manage Homeless in California

In California to deal with the issue of slavery, more affordable houses need to be built plus other supportive services. Providing permanent shelter for this people will reduce the number of those living on the street. Since most of this people do not have any source of income, training of young workers should be prioritized even if it means taking some of them to school to learn basic life serving skills.

Conclusion

The issue of homeless remains a communal responsibility and should not be left to the federal government alone. The community should come together in collaboration with the government to ensure that the above initiatives are implemented in a more economical manner.

Work Cited

Fulton, Margaret. A Study of Homelessness. Diss. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2010.

Echenberg, Havi, and Hilary Jensen. Risk factors for homelessness. Parliamentary Information and Research Service, 2009.

Henwood, Benjamin, et al. "The grand challenge of ending homelessness." (2015).

Stroh, David Peter, and Michael Goodman. "A systemic approach to ending homelessness." Applied Systems Thinking Journal 4 (2007): 2-8.

Schneider, Barbara, and Chasteen Remillard. "Caring About Homelessness: How Identity Work Maintains The Stigma Of Homelessness." Text & Talk 33.1 (2013): n. pag. Web.

Gale Holand. California legislators propose spending $2 billion to build housing for homeless. New York Times (2016)