Begging on a street corner with a sign. Pleading for ‘spare change’. A sight presumably, everyone has seen someone homeless and in need. Many choose to ignore many people in need, perhaps because it is easier, or because of a deep-seated cultural angst and fear. Are homeless individuals to blame, or the society that produced them? Some people, however,choose to help. Homelessness is as old as America, stretching back centuries to traditions of vagrancy in Europe. The numbers of those who live without a home have fluctuated throughout the years and continue to be a public health problem today. What’s more, homeless, and the poverty and injustice that it engenders, are a part of one of the most stigmatized groups of people in America. Anyone can be homeless. Indeed, some studies report that “1 in 10 young adults is homeless today”
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The biggest misunderstanding is the belief that they have put this situation upon themselves. However, these stereotypes are often very far from the truth.. Many of those on the street have nowhere else to turn and no one to help them. This misunderstanding puts the lives of the homeless at risk. The homeless undergo the brutal dangers of harsh weather, starvation, hate crimes, disease, and more. There is an assumption that the homeless are less worthy or beneath those who have more money. Even the government holds a distaste for the homeless. Instead of putting money towards shelters and programs to help, the government puts money into spikes beneath underpasses to prevent the homeless from sleeping under them. This loathing from the government for the homeless is often described as a severe human rights violation. While the government is not spending enough money on programs for the homeless but for allied health initiatives such as public school funding, Medicare, Medicaid, and
The biggest misunderstanding is the belief that they have put this situation upon themselves. However, these stereotypes are often very far from the truth.. Many of those on the street have nowhere else to turn and no one to help them. This misunderstanding puts the lives of the homeless at risk. The homeless undergo the brutal dangers of harsh weather, starvation, hate crimes, disease, and more. There is an assumption that the homeless are less worthy or beneath those who have more money. Even the government holds a distaste for the homeless. Instead of putting money towards shelters and programs to help, the government puts money into spikes beneath underpasses to prevent the homeless from sleeping under them. This loathing from the government for the homeless is often described as a severe human rights violation. While the government is not spending enough money on programs for the homeless but for allied health initiatives such as public school funding, Medicare, Medicaid, and