Homelessness is a serious issue for individuals that find themselves without a home. Homelessness effects all aspects of an individual's life. Many people that find themselves in this situation often experience health issues such as frostbite, lack of sleep, sexual assault, asthma, upper respiratory infections, and other health related illnesses. For homeless individuals looking for employment, they find it difficult to be hired by organizations because these people do not have permanent addresses or telephone numbers. Living on the streets often results in people living in poverty for years.
According to Hoffman and Coffey (2008), people that are homeless often complain about the lack of having "dignity and self-respect" because of how they are treated by workers in shelters (p. 207). Most shelters allow individuals a place to sleep for the night, but then they are turned out into the cold weather and back onto the streets during daylight hours. According to Alden …show more content…
According to Hill, Granado, Opusunju, Peters, and Ross (2011), African American's experience homelessness at higher rates than other population segments in the United States. Grenier, Barken, Sussman, Rothwell, and Bourgeois-Guerin (2016) concluded that "homelessness among older people is expected to rise as a result of unmet needs and demographic change" (p. 1).
Homelessness is a serious problem in the United States and around the world. It is important to study the topic of homelessness because understanding the impacts of homelessness sheds light on the issue and how to provide support for these individuals. Addressing the problem of homelessness can help build up families and communities for the