Homeless in the United States

What can we do? First and foremost, we need you to donate whatever you can. If one million persons donate $1.00, the numbers of jobs that can be created would be astronomical. We need you to donate whatever you can no later than March 1st, 2009.  What does it say about us as adults, when our children are breaking open their piggy banks to donate everything they have when we are not.

As part of our endeavor, we are producing internal jobs to assist us with our cause, and these persons will be tasked with creating jobs for others. We cannot ask you enough to donate, every dollar helps, and if there was no additional need for the government to provide total resolution of this problem, there would be no need for the government, and President Obama to ask for our help! Please visit our website at http://www.thewrightresume.net, click on the donations tab, and donate whatever you can, even if it is only one dollar. We cannot express enough the need for your help! Please provide what you can.

'This is an article written in 1995 which is true today, but which has more serious complications in our time." Beverly Brown

Kyosuke Yoshida
June, 2, 1995

Introduction

This paper explores homelessness which is a serious problem in the United States of America. According to The National Coalition For The Homeless, "there are between 30,000 and 7,000,000 homeless people in America." (Lunde, 1995) This paper will analyze the causes of homelessness, including unemployment, alcoholism, drug abuse, mental illness, and so on. The argument is that the homeless people are responsible for their own condition, for example, all alcoholics and drug addicts do not become homeless, so This means alcoholism or other reasons, cannot be the only cause of homelessness.

Unemployment

Homelessness is a complex problem, so not all homelessness is caused by one particular reason. First, the most serious cause of homelessness is unemployment. According to a 1993 report by the U.S. conference of Mayors, " About 60% of homeless population works and is still homeless." (Ropers, R. H. 1988,) "Their average income is less than $176 per month."(ICH, 1991) It is far lower than the poverty level; therefore, some homeless people receive the following government assistance payments.

Employment Status of Homeless People in the United States by Sex (Ropers, R. H. 1988)
According to the table and the chart above, approximately 25% of homeless people does not have a job and 60% has a job; moreover, 54% of homeless people gets some money which, however, is not enough. Not all people who are unemployed are looking for jobs and although the precise figure is not available, some homeless people, who do not want to work, think that getting money without working is the best way of living.

Alcoholism and drug abuse (chemical dependency)

Alcoholism is also a major cause of homelessness. According to The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), "50% of all homeless is a 'single' adult who has a drug or alcohol problem," but it is not the only cause of homelessness. Alcoholism also contributes to unemployment. For example, more than 85% of alcoholic homeless men had not been employed for at least 6 months, and neither had 79% of nonalcoholic homeless men. (Bennet, G. , 1992) This means that, regardless of sex, to get a job is more difficult for alcoholic homeless people than nonalcoholic homeless people; therefore, alcoholic homeless people get money from illegal activities. According to NCH, "many drug and alcohol abusers never become homeless, but people who are poor and addicted are clearly more tend to become homeless." (NCH, 1995)

Mental Illness
About one-third of the single adult homeless population suffers from some kind of severe and persistent mental illness. (Federal Task Force on Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness, 1992) According to the National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness, "at least a half of mentally ill homeless people are dually diagnosed with an alcohol or drug problem." (NCH, 1992), but according to the Federal Task Force on Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness, "Only 5-7% of homeless persons with mental illness needs to be institutionalized", so mental illness is not the major cause of homelessness.

Conclusion

Each one of the above causes of homelessness cannot be the only cause of homelessness by itself because most of homeless people get some money whether they are employed or not employed ([ICH], 1991), and some people are not willing to work because of the government assistance payment. In terms of alcoholism and drug abuse(chemical dependency), only homeless people who are addicted have a high risk of becoming homeless. ([NCH], 1995) Only 5% to 7% of homeless people with mental illness need to be institutionalized.([NCH], 1995)

Reference list

Bent, G.(1992, March) Employment experience of homeless persons with alcohol and other drug problems.(CD-ROM) SIRS Government Reporter, Job Training and Employment Service for Homeless Persons with Alcohol and other drug problem: A technical assistance paper, SuDoc Number: HE 20.8302:H75/5

Interagency Council on the Homeless (1991, April) What are the characteristics of homeless population? (CD-ROM) SIRS Government Reporter, Fact sheet, SuDoc Number: Y 3.H 75:17/2-1

Interagency Council on the Homeless (1991, May) What are the causes of homelessness? (CD-ROM) SIRS Government Reporter, Fact sheet, SuDoc Number; Y 3/H 75:17/7

Interagency Council on the Homeless (1993) The nature of the population. (CD-ROM) SIRS Movement Reporter page number: 7-13, Outcast on Main Street: Report of the Federal Task Force on Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness, SuDoc Number: Y 3.H 75:2 AU 8
Lunde, R. (1995) Who is homeless in the United States of America. (on line) available: http://www.teleport.com/~cool/homeless.html

Ropers, R. H. (1988) The invisible homeless: a new urban ecology. New York: Human Sciences Press, Inc.

The National Coalition for the Homeless (1995) Homelessness and Joblessness (on line) available: http://nch.ari.net/jobs.html

The National Coalition for the Homeless (1995) How Many Homeless People Are There ? (on line) available: http://nch.ari.net/numbers.html

The National Coalition for the Homeless (1995) Why Are People Homeless? (on line) available: http://nch.ari.net/causes.html

Watkins-Goffman, L., Goffman, R.,Velazquez, C.V. (1993) Making your point. Boston: Heinle&Heinle.