Understanding the cause of homelessness
"Being homeless is often defined as sleeping on the streets. Although this is the most visible and severe form of homelessness, there are many other types of acute housing need. These include living in temporary accommodation, poor or overcrowded conditions, or being in mortgage arrears and under threat of re-possession." (Hope 1986) It is a symptom of many complex problems: mental illness, emotional instability, illiteracy, chronic substance abuse, unemployment, and, most basic of all, breakdown of the family structure. Anyone can become homeless and the reasons that force people into homelessness are many and varied. The leading cause, however, of homelessness in the United States is the inability of poor people to afford housing. "Housing costs have risen significantly over the last decade, while the incomes of poor and middle-class Americans have stagnated." (Erickson 1991) The millions of Americans who are unemployed or work in low-paying jobs are among the most vulnerable to becoming homeless. Therefore, homelessness, housing and income are inextricably linked. Low-income people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, child-care, health care, and education. Difficult choices must be made when limited resources cove
Our examination makes it clear that piecemeal intervention can alleviate emergency shelter crises, but such action will not resolve the long-term problem of finding permanent shelter for the homeless and returning them to the mainstream of society wherever possible, which we regard as the ultimate goal of intervention. Equally obvious is that while long-term intervention strategies are vital, they do not address the problems of survival for those presently without shelter and support. We conclude that both long-term and short-term measures are necessary, but that all the solutions should be based on integrated, comprehensive understanding of the homelessness problem. Only such a comprehensive approach will allow planners to develop workable strategies with any chance for success. Across America, there has been a substantial decline in the number of housing units that low-income people and those in need of shelter assistance can afford. Those losses have resulted primarily from downtown urban renewal, gentrification, abandonment, and suburban land use controls. The elimination and reduction of federal low income housing programs has also dramatically reduced the supply of affordable shelter. Moreover, construction of low income and assisted housing has essentially stopped (Newsweek 1984). Due to the increased demand and diminished supply of housing or shelter, the problem of homelessness is further deteriorated. Planners can play an important role in the search for solutions to homelessness. And homelessness is an extensive, complex process. Different kinds of intervention are needed to deal with the problem. But the most widely accepted approach is a three-tier system, "beginning with emergency shelters and moving through transitional accommodations to long-term housing" (Urban Land 1986). Rehabilitation of old buildings by minimal funding are common projects to provide shelters for the homeless people. However, some observers suggests that making "the renovation of buildings for low-income housing attractive, that i
Some common words found in the essay are:
Income SSI, , Policy Institute, Urban Development, Urban Land, Housing Review, Americans Foscarinas, Children AFDC, minimum wage, low income, poor people, income housing, poverty line, low-income housing, risk homelessness, public assistance, shelters homeless people, homeless people, housing urban, urban land 1986,
Approximate Word count = 1373
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
