what are your view points on homelessness?

Question

your view points on how the government/soceity handles problem

Answer 1

They don't. The government chooses to ignore this problem. Communities do however offer free health clinics and there is spiritual guidance for homeless.

Answer 2

I am torn on what is the answer to this problem. Americans spend millions to make movies and go to them for entertainment, yet many people can not afford to sleep in a home. Some of these homeless people have jobs. How can such a wealthy nation not be ashamed that people live without the safety of a home. I realize all situations are not the same, yet I have housed homeless people before and find that some homeless people just chose to be so; while others are homeless for a variety of reasons. I was watching the news and saw that millions of dollars were donated to individuals who are running for president of United States. I'd vote for the person who took all that money and established programs for the homeless.

Answer 3

In my opinion there are three reasons for the problem, most of which could be solved by Federal and State governments -- but homeless people have no address, therefore are not counted as constituents.

Homelessness increased exponentially when State hospitals began to mainstream longterm residents -- supposedly into their communities. I am not a fan of locking up people with mental illness, however, the release with meds and an appointment approach doesn't seem to work either. How about a group home approach with medication monitoring?

A second major cause of homelessness is the low wages that most service sector jobs pay. Most communities/States do not have a living wage (on which one could afford rent AND food for a family by holding only one full time job). Second jobs should be for extras, not necessities. US workers need jobs that pay enough to live on.

A third major cause of homelessness are medical crisis costs (coupled with no savings and high credit card balances) that bankrupt families. Saving for the "rainy day" is gone as a value, living it up on credit has replaced it. Medical crisis, no insurance (or inadequate), and ooops -- lose the house, too. Yes, people should try to live within their means and save for the rainy day. And, US should have universal health coverage so that people can get medical/surgical treatment without losing their homes.

Answer 4

Judging by the number of homeless people, I'd say the government is not handling the problem at all. In my city, there are a few soup kitchens, but there is also a tent city where most of the 'resdents' have full time jobs. This tells me the real problem is affordable housing. They can't get enough money saved to put deposits on a decent place to live.
Yes there are a few panhandlers out there who don't want to work, but if you live in a city, you will begin to notice that the faces are starting to look familiar. It's the same few people that are preventing some desparate people from getting help.
There are also people with mental illness. Why are they not in a group home like they do with mentally handicapped people? They do not choose to have chemical imbalances in their brains, any more than mentally handicapped people choose to have fewer neural connections in theirs.

Answer 5

Well there's various reasons why we have this problem. One of the problems is even in low income apartments and housing it's possible to get evicted, shelters can become overcrowded so that's why you still see people sleeping on street corners or on park benches. True some of the people on the street are there because they want to or unwilling to comply with life at home but for most it's not a choice.

ie: mental illness is a mental handicap. And they do have group homes and institutions. But it's still possibly to escape from them and most institutions only give you so long to stay (except for the most serious ones). So if you look at that way, institutions also contribute to homelessness.

Answer 6

I personally think that if we can spend billions of dollars on a war (whether it should have been started or not, and yes, I DO support our troops, just not the idea of war), that we can afford to not have any homeless people.

Homelessness just breeds discontent and feelings of never being able to make it. If no one were homeless, if everyone had their NEEDS taken care of, people would then be able to work, and I think they'd be WILLING to work, in jobs that they WANT to do, regardless of how much they get paid, because they wouldn't be worried about putting a roof over their childrens' heads, having clothing for them to wear, having what they need to stay healthy (food, water, medicine).

I'm an idealist, I know, but it's hard not to be optimistic when you see how things COULD be.

Answer 7

The government is a business.

Society needs to realize that and vote w/wisdom.

Homelessness? The only programs that should be running for those in that much need are disciplinary programs that teach self-discipline. If a person refuses to acknowledge they have any responsibility in their situation then they should be escorted back to their families for guidance.