How serious is homelessness in Amereica anyway?

Question

Explain how serious is this spreading problem?

Explain why and how serious is this problem.

Answer 1

I can answer this question from the viewpoint of a homeless person, as I have been homeless on 2 separate occasions. There is an assenine comment on here about homeless people wanting to be that way. Most homeless people wind up that way due to unfortunate events and poor choices. A lot of people have things just go bad for them, say at work, and lose their jobs. Take me for example, I am a specialist in a certain field. When the stock market crashed in 2001, I got laid off and there wasn't a job to be had where I lived. I had to move several hundred miles away, stay with friends, sleep under bridges, do whatever I could for just as long as I could. I would go to interviews and be told that I was "overqualified", and would not be happy working for the company I was interviewing with, or would not be happy with the pay I would have to take.

I cannot tell you how humiliating it is to look at other people when you are in that position. You feel like less a man, or woman in the case of homeless women. You find it near impossible to look another person in the eye, and forget holding your head up. Forget your pride. You don't have space to have any. You just scrape by and try to survive as best you can, and it aint easy. There is no pride involved. I have stolen and eaten out of trash cans. I have done a lot I aint proud of, but I lived. No, I survived, and Damn anyone to Hell who looks at another homeless person and thinks it can never happen to them. It can, and easily. You may never even see it coming.

I finally landed a job, and came out of it all. It took sleeping under a bridge and bathing in a drainage creek, and using a false address on my applications. I came away from it, but so many never make it. The fire goes out of their eyes, and lives. They fall into escapism, or depression, and just give up. The vast majority just lack the will power and drive to escape, along with a fair amount of luck. Luck is always a factor, no matter how much we like to think we are the masters of our own destinies.

So the next time you think you are so much better, remember, you are only a simple turn of events away from sharing a cardboard box beside someone under that bridge and stealing a Little Debbie cake to eat one time this week. Maybe you should think about taking that homeless person you see on the way to your lunch break at McDonalds and getting them the burger you were just gonna pack another three pounds on your expanding buttocks with. Wait, that would ruin your sense of superiority. Sorry.

Answer 2

Okay, I'm going to make things crystal clear. Not all soup kitchens are the same. I live in a small town that has 3 major state prisons as the main source of income. Our soup kitchen serves mostly people that have homes but not jobs. Or just want a free home cooked meal. We have NO homeless people here. Probably because we are too far north. We serve a SIT DOWN meal to people. It usually takes around 5 hours of prep work to serve anywhere from 55 to 110 people, depending on the week. All of the workers are volunteers that have problems of their own. None of us is rich or has a lot of material wealth. I, at age 58, am the youngest person working. There usually are only 6 people working since it is very hard to get reliable volunteers. We are always begging for help. If some of the ladies don't look happy it may be that they are not feeling well. They are older gals, in their 70's, and it is hard for them to do the physical work involved in all the serving. The two men that work clean tables, set up chairs, and help where needed. All the dishes, silverware, pots and pans are hand washed. We go to the grocery stores early in the day to collect the food to be used in the cooking. Then we have to come up with a meal with the food that has been donated. There are no questions asked, no forms to be filled out, and no sermons spoken. We also give everyone a free bag of groceries at the end of the meal. Obviously, we have had two very different experiences. I still say you read your own preconceived notions into my writing.

Answer 3

The real problem with homelessness in America is we still don't really understand or take any true steps to change it. Yes it is a problem here and thoughout the world. However the degree of what homeless is to different countries is different in each culture. There are places where homeless means there is no shelter at all........no help........no nothing. We actually have it good compared to other countries but we need improvements too and it is these improvements that will slowly change the world to a better place for all.

Answer 4

It is extremely serious. And it will continue to be until we do more about it. The problem is there isn't a quick one solution to the problem, like many issues it's complicated. But we must not throw up our arms in hopelessness. To not try and find a solution is the same as giving up and that is not acceptable.

Homelessness is serious regardless of how many are homeless it should be taken seriously as long as there is even 1 person sleeping out on the street.

Answer 5

VERY SERIOUS!!!

Just ask one of the 10's of thousands sleeping in train tunnels, under bridges and in city alleyways iunder cartons... or the'uppercrust' homeless living in welfare hotels or crammed into church 'wreckhalls' with other families and washing in the bathroom sink.

Erstwhile the yuppies go from 3 to 4 children and trade in their $285K homes for $415's

We are a disgrace to the entire world and THAT is the existential reason the entire world has learned to HATE the US of A

Answer 6

a lot of the people that are homeless like to be homeless and some of them just don't know any other way to live

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Many of the homeless in America are drug addicts and so it is hard for them to pull themselves out of it. I heard that many American live paycheck to paycheck and if they miss two paychecks, they are in the risk of losing there home and possibly become homeless.

Answer 9

Its more abundant in big cities across the country...I live in Columbus,Oh you will see homeless people from time to time..near highway/interstate..

Answer 10

very.

besides the fact that many people keep becoming home-less, there is very little assistance for them to get back on their feet.
like on job aplications, if you can't fill out an address and phone number you can't get hired