A Deep Dive Into Homelessness and its Underlying Causes

 Jose Shearer

Professor Entzminger

English 101

30 April 2021

A Deep Dive Into Homelessness and its Underlying Causes

Homelessness is a big problem all around the world often undermined. Just because you might not know many homeless people doesn’t mean it's not a problem. Some leading causes of homelessness are lack of affordable housing, health issues, and the criminalization of homeless people keeping them in their same situation.

As people with the means to help, it should be our duty to help those in need. Many Americans just take for granted what they have. “HUD found that in 2016 more than 1.4 million Americans relied on a homeless shelter or transitional housing for at least part of the year.” homelessness | Definition, Scope, & Causes | Britannica. Lack of affordable housing is the leading cause for homelessness in the United States. “Today, 8 million extremely low-income households pay at least half of their income toward housing, putting them at risk of housing instability and homelessness.” Housing - National Alliance to End Homelessness. Since the 1980 cost of rent has increased dramatically while lower income individuals have barely seen wage raises. This is a risky situation because those who can’t afford to save are left vulnerable.

A new study shows that, “Approximately 8% of transgender adults of diverse sexual orientation identities reported recent experiences of homelessness in the 12 months prior to being interviewed” Homelessness Among LGBT Adults in the US – Williams Institute (ucla.edu). This is an alarming rate 6 times higher than cis straight individuals. We need to work towards equality, no group of people deserves to be left behind like that.

Health issues is another leading reason why people end up on the streets. “On a given night in 2017, 20 percent of the homeless population reported having a serious mental illness, 16 percent conditions related to chronic substance abuse, and more than 10,000 people had HIV/AIDS.”Housing - National Alliance to End Homelessness. For people with health problems, whether it is mental health or substance abuse, it’s really hard for them to get back on their feet, especially if they are homeless. “Housing stability is a key contributor to long-term recovery and reduces relapse for people who are homeless.” Housing - National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Finally, the last reason why it might be hard for homeless people to overcome their situation is because of their criminalization. Just some laws that criminalize homelessness are public urination and defecation, camping or sleeping in public, loitering, panhandling, public storage of belongings, and sidewalk-sitting. “At the same time, more than 80 percent of respondents who reported restrictions on public camping/sleeping, urination/defecation, and/or storage of belongings, indicated that their cities lack sufficient shelter beds, public bathrooms, and/or free-to-low cost storage options for the personal belongings of homeless persons.” Wayback Machine (archive.org). When homeless people get in trouble for something stupid like that, there is a possibility it might stain their record; making it even harder for them to find a job in the future. It is terrible that we criminalize people for being poor rather than help them get out of their difficult situation. Imagine one of your close family members being mistreated like that. Picture members of your community being decriminalized like that.

Some people are homeless because of their laziness or because they don’t want to overcome their vices. “it becomes difficult to want to help a homeless person that sits on the same park bench day after day asking for money. And I am supposed to give these people money?” When Laziness Seizes the Life of a Homeless Person | The Bottom Line (ucsb.edu). As stated by this author, this is a very common conception of homeless people. Homeless people should go out and get a job and stop relying on others to support them. If you put yourself in their shoes though, you would know that things aren’t as black and white as they seem. 

How hard would it be for you to get a job with no means of transportation, no clean clothes, always being dirty, and possibly not having an ID, Visa, bank account, and no easy means of accessing the internet or communicating with your employer? In my eyes thinking that all homeless people are lazy, unmotivated addicts is profiling and no better than racism. Not all homeless people are the same, just like not all black, hispanic, or asian people are the same. You shouldn’t profile someone by where they live or their income. There are homeless people out there who want to better their lives and get a job but they just need help!

Growing up in Guatemala, you would see homeless people on almost every street. I first saw how homeless people were mistreated and forgotten about when I was just a kid. Walking to my mom’s car one day after work, a stranger grabbed me and demanded my mom’s wallet and phone while he threatened to kill me with a metal pipe. My heart was raising, I thought I was going to get kidnapped, which could have been if it weren’t for Estuardo. Without hesitation Estuardo stepped in and attacked the man holding me using his belt as a weapon. I didn’t even know Estuardo’s name at the time, and he didn’t know mine. Estuardo’s heroism urged other bystanders to join in and help him too. Without Estuardo’s feat of kindness I don’t know where I would be today. I realize now that I shouldn’t have been surprised that the homeless man sitting on the street was the first one to take action, because we are all the same. I shouldn’t have needed a traumatic experience to realize that.

In the end, homelessness is a big issue in our society. I believe everyone deserves a place to live. Some groups of people are more likely to end up on the street, showing us that things aren’t as simple as we think . We as a society need to strive for equality, and this is just the first step. I would like to believe that if I were in a homeless person's shoes that my family and friends wouldn’t think badly of me. We all make mistakes and we all need help sometimes. It should be our duty to help those in need rather than look down on them.