Homelessness Defined for the Many

Homelessness Defined

For the many countries around the globe, problems on population and poverty persist. Alongside this overpopulation and too much scarcity problem comes the problem on homelessness. Various non-government and government organizations were established which all aimed at analyzing the profundity of the situation and at the same time provide assistance to those people belonging to the homeless population.

Many say that homelessness is houselessness and it is equated with the lack of connectedness (http://www.homeless.org.au/homelessness/,2004). Homelessness is a condition of detachment from society characterized by the absence or attenuation of the affinitive bonds that link settled persons to a network of interconnected social structures (http://www.homeless.org.au/homelessness/,2004) while houselessness is the people's inadequate experience of shelter, ranging from a complete lack of shelter at one end of the continuum to severely inadequate housing conditions at the other. (http://www.homeless.org.au/homelessness/,2004). There have been a lot of instances wherein the support services view homelessness only from a housing perspective failing to consider its true basis as a lack of connectedness. This is the very reason why homelessness is considered as not solely on housing and housing concepts, but it has significance on emotions, social and psychological dimensions of the people as well (http://www.homeless.org.au/homelessness/,2004).

Statistics Related to Homelessness

Homelessness has been a persisting problem not only in America. For example in Canada, there was this study showing that a number of people sleeping in Toronto shelters each night are roughly 5,000 (FinninDay, 2004). Likewise, in Great Britain, a December 2000 study, revealed that approximately 1200 people sleep rough in England each night, with over 300 of them being in inner London. This figure does not include the 20,000 people living in accommodations for the homeless, or those people staying in bed and breakfasts and squats (http://www.mungos.org/facts.shtml,2004). Homelessness is also a problem in Australia because recent records state that there are 99,900 houseless people (http://www.homeless.org.au/statistics/houselessness.htm,2004).

Looking closer at the America's situation of homelessness, the figures provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, showed that up to 600,000 men, women, and children go homeless each night in the U.S. Further, there was a survey conducted in the year 2000 along the U.S. shoreline (specifically 25 U.S. cities) showing that families with children accounted for 36% of the homeless population (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2000), and this has increased dramatically with an average of 17% compared to last year. In New York City alone, city officials estimated that there were 30,000 people utilizing the shelter system on a daily basis, more than at any other time in the city's history (http://www.warmingfamilies.org/homeless_stats.html,2004).

Reasons for Homelessness

In the U.S., the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) found out that majority of the reasons for being a homeless falls on the following categories (http://www.homeless.org.au/statistics/houselessness.htm,2004):

Domestic and family violence

Eviction/previous accommodation ended

Relationship/family breakdown

Usual accommodation unavailable

Financial Difficulty

Another study was conducted by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo's comprehensive study on America's homelessness entitled "The Forgotten Americans - Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve" and it found some more interesting facts regarding homelessness in America. These are (http://www.hud.gov/library/bookshelf18/pressrel/pr99-258.html,1999):

Homeless people commonly suffered from a serious problems since childhood

Homeless people are among the poorest in the nation, with incomes averaging half the federal poverty level

Homeless people commonly have health and disability problems and/or chronic health problem such as arthritis or cancer, mental health problem, and alcohol and drug problems

Homeless people have low educational levels

Most of the homeless people live in central cities, followed by those living in suburbs and in rural areas.

Moreover, Cuomo's report was able to analyze the goals and/or the priorities of those people belonging to homeless populations. Amongst the top most priority is to get a job, which is why 44% of homeless people surveyed worked at least part-time during the past month (http://www.hud.gov/library/bookshelf18/pressrel/pr99-258.html,1999).

Proposal to Enhance Homelessness

From the reasons stated above, it can be easily inferred that homelessness became the result of the long suffering of people. But there are ways on how one can help minimize this problem.

There are sure plans on how the government and non-government organizations can help ease the homelessness problem.

Based on the report submitted by Cuomo, upon receiving assistance from authorized agencies, such as health care assistance, treatment from substance and drug abuse, education and job training and even services for mental health problems, a big part of those living in families (76%) and of those living alone (60%) tend to put a stop their homeless status and gradually move to an improved living situation. Another point to ponder is the fact that the cost of homeless assistance is considerably lower than the cost of putting homeless people in jail to get them off the streets. For example, the Supportive Housing Network estimates that in New York City in 1998 it cost $40,000 per year to jail someone, compared with just $12,500 to provide affordable housing and a variety of supportive services (http://www.hud.gov/library/bookshelf18/pressrel/pr99-258.html,1999).

This just shows that if one can help and lend a helping hand to the homeless people, their way of life will not only be improved, but ultimately, the country's economic situation will be enhanced also. Needless to say, if these homeless people will be offered with a helping hand they can come back and turn their lives around.

Cuomo stressed out the "Continuum of Care" initiative by the housing agencies which stress permanent solutions to homelessness. This is the process of comprehensive and collaborative community planning which reflects efforts addressing the complexities of homelessness through a range of housing and services. The services provide emergency assistance and assessment of a homeless person's needs, and help the person to obtain permanent housing and become self-sufficient. (http://www.hud.gov/library/bookshelf18/pressrel/pr99-258.html,1999).