Transition And Episodic Homelessness

Improved Essays
Homelessness can be defined as “a temporary condition that people fall into when they cannot afford to pay for a place to live, or when their current home is unsafe or unstable.” (suitcaseslinic.org). Homelessness has become a serious issue in America, with 610,042 individuals found to be homeless in January 2013. 85% of homeless persons are individuals, but 15% are in family households. This makes the issue of homelessness even more drastic, with 33% of all homeless people being youths under the age of 24. Homelessness affects many people and those who live in poverty are more at risk of becoming homeless. Statistics on homelessness can often be inconclusive because they tend to be limited to counting persons in shelters or on the streets. Furthering the definition of homelessness are the different types of homelessness: chronic, transitional and episodic. …show more content…
Transitional homelessness refers to the majority of homeless persons who generally enter the shelter short term. These people are usually younger and have become homeless due to some catastrophic event. Chronic homelessness refers to a small population of homeless people who are entrenched in the shelter system, on a long-term basis. These tend to be older, unemployed people who suffer from disabilities and substance abuse. Episodic homelessness refers to those who frequently enter and exit homelessness. In general, there are multiple causes as to why people become homeless. One important aspect that has contributed to homelessness is the lack of affordable housing and the limited scale of housing assistance programs. Housing wages often exceed wages earned by low-income renter households, which can often lead to eviction and homelessness. Another important aspect that has contributed to homelessness is poverty. Poor people cannot pay for housing, food, health care and many other necessities. Poverty is increasing for many reasons, including the decline in available public assistance and the lack of employment opportunities. Other major aspects that contribute to homelessness are the lack of affordable health care, domestic violence, mental illness and addiction. Homelessness in America is a massive issue that affects all areas, including Louisville, Kentucky. There has been a major increase in the number of homeless people in Louisville, especially in the young adult and teen population. A story by local news station WDRB stated that, “11,000 people stayed in 27 homeless shelters in the Louisville area… That 's a 3% increase from the previous year. But what is even more alarming is the number of homeless children -- a 58% increase.” Not only are the homelessness rates on an increase in Louisville, but the human services program to help homeless people are facing cuts. A local shelter that houses the homeless known as Volunteers of America is one of many shelters that will lose funding, decreasing the amount of homeless people they can help. Although the human services programs are facing cuts, there are also organizations in Louisville that are focused on improving the lives of the homeless. The Coalition for the Homeless is a nonprofit organization that serves the homeless in our community by providing housing, clothing, food, health care and legal services to all categories of the homeless (children, families, veterans). “They move over 5,000 people each year from homelessness to permanent housing with support from our community.” (louhomeless.org). They educate

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Theories of relativity, Barbara Haworth-Attard, homelessness. Homeless people are people who have lack of place to live. They have no secure place to live. Homeless people are people who have been kicked out of their houses by their parents or they leave their homes themselves for some reasons. They may leave their homes maybe because of lack of attention by their parents, or maybe they have to deal with sexual abuse and physical abuse at their home or some other sort of problems.…

    • 1642 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Cardboard Community My community participation event is Cardboard Nation in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, sponsored by Warm Blessings, Inc. Cardboard Nation is an annual community event designed to encourage people to raise money to help the homeless population. This year $12,000 was collected in one evening. Homelessness Today Experiencing homelessness, defined by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, is sleeping outside or in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program. As the United States is recovering from the Great Recession, our homeless population from 2013 to 2014 is on the decline.…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    All throughout America you see homeless people either on the side of the road or in homeless shelters. People think that homeless people are lazy, which isn’t the case. Some aren’t able to work because of a disability. The ones with disabilities aren’t able to work and most likely don’t have anyone to take care of them. A variety of factors can contribute to homelessness.…

    • 236 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Homelessness Report

    • 2040 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Introduction Homelessness in the United States is a grave and multifaceted issue for everyone, specifically for youth and young adults. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, 633,782 individuals are faced with homelessness, nightly in the United States. Yearly, there are about 550,000 youth and young adults up to age 24 who are homeless for more than seven days. Of these youth, nearly 50,000 spend many nights on the street, for up to six months or more (2013). The State of Homelessness in America 2013 report shows there were 36,911 homeless individuals in the state of Texas in 2011 and 34,052 in 2012 (2013).…

    • 2040 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Research suggests that there are approximately 1.6-2 million homeless youth living on the streets, in shelters or in other temporary accommodations in the United States on any given night (Edidin, Ganim, Hunter, Karnik, 2012). A homeless person can be defined as anyone who lacks an appropriate, regular nighttime residence; and whose main nighttime residence is a temporary living accommodation, including shelters, transitional housing, or a place not intended for regular nighttime accommodations (Edidin et al., 2012). Reasons for homelessness range from young pregnancies and failure to complete schooling to substance abuse or unemployment. Homeless families are under a significant amount of stress. Families and children experiencing homelessness…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Geography Of Homelessness

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages

    There is an estimated 2.3-3.5 million people who experience homelessness each year. A person is deemed homeless if they do not have a regular place to sleep at night (“How Many People Experience Homelessness”). The term homelessness itself is misleading. Homeless is not always…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Homelessness in the United States of America is a real issue. According to the November 2015 National Homeless Report (AHAR) to Congress the numbers of homeless in America are staggering numbers. There are estimated 564,706 persons homeless every night. Additionally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the homeless are more susceptible to infectious diseases, chronic illness, mental health issues, substance abuse and violence. Even more alarming is the mortality rate for the homeless, which is four to nine times higher when compared to those persons that are not homeless.…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Homelessness In America

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages

    America is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, yet has as many as 3 million homeless Americans. Homelessness is a temporary condition that people fall into when they cannot afford to pay for a place to live, or when their current home is unsafe…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the world, homelessness is an ongoing problem that affects millions of people on a daily basis. Many people face an intense struggle to survive harsh conditions and stay alive. It is a constant effort to break out of the homelessness despite the fact that the society turns against the homeless population. Homelessness is a societal issue that cuts through every race, age, and cultural background; however, the lack of affordable housing is a common issue homeless people share. Societal issue, such as homelessness affects micro, mezzo, and macro levels of social work.…

    • 1263 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Homelessness In America

    • 1445 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Homelessness in the United States is getting worse and worse every year. Currently 3.5 million people in the U.S are experiencing it and the worst part is that 33% of this are youth under the age of 24. The shelters are filling up and this issue that could be resolved is getting worse. Homelessness is defined “ an individual who lacks housing ( without regard to where the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose primary residence during the night is supervised public or private facility(e.g. shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing- nhchc.org.…

    • 1445 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Homelessness in the United states has always been a problem from the early 2000’s till now. Although in January of 2012 a overall point count had 633,782 of homeless people found throughout the united states. Recent studies have an estimate of 1.6 million people using transitional housing or emergency shelters. From all of these people, ⅓ of these people have a household of children, increasing by 9 percent since 2007. Another study has found that 1.35 million children out of the 3.5 million people are likely to experience homelessness in a year or less says the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.…

    • 1043 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Homelessness is a temporary condition that people fall into when they cannot afford to pay for a place to live, or when their current home is unsafe or unstable. Factors that contribute to homelessness include lack of affordable housing, lack of preventative services to keep people from losing their housing, and inadequate treatment programs for those suffering from substance abuse and mental illness. Homelessness is very common in large cities versus smaller communities in the country. Kozol argues that homelessness has no prejudice and people who are homeless are susceptible to many dangers. Kozol explains that homelessness has no prejudice.…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How bad can being homeless really be? You may be considered homeless if you do not have permanent housing, stay at shelters, abandoned buildings, sleep in cars or on the streets. Homelessness has been a rising issue ever since the 1870’s. Homelessness in the United States is a huge problem although it affects many different places around the world. Why is homelessness such a huge issue though?…

    • 111 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Homelessness YourFirstName YourLastName University title Homelessness Introduction Homelessness is a situation whereby people lack a permanent dwelling such as an apartment or a house. Homeless persons are unable to obtain and maintain adequate, secure and safe housing. Since these people have no regular housing, they usually spend their night time in discarded buildings, vehicle, homeless or warming centres, cardboard boxes or even in a tent.…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Homelessness rates have majorly increased throughout the past several years. The shocking rates assert that there is a huge problem evolving, and needs the worlds attention. Homelessness is one of the most dreadful years in any person’s life. Being homeless is not only living on the streets, its not having a home to go back to, nor a family to love. Homelessness is caused by three major reasons; unemployment, poverty, and drugs.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics