Homelessness In Modern Culture

“Home is a notion that only nations of the homeless fully appreciate and only the uprooted comprehend.” This quote from Wallace Stegner provides insight to the often overlooked and neglected issue of homelessness. As long as there are homes, there will be people without them, and as long as we stay silent about this problem, there will be people suffering. In order to better understand homelessness in today’s society, it is vital to gain a deeper insight into this plight that over 100 million people face daily. While homelessness isn’t found frequently in codified history, there are other ways to learn about it, including exploring this term’s definition, understanding its enumeration, and further establish its place in modern culture. Before something can be lost, it must first be gained. Since “homeless” is to be without a home, it is fitting to address the etymology of the word “home.” Researching such a definition proved to be somewhat difficult, as there is a limited and uncertain history of the word. The term used in ancient Greece was “oikos.” This meant house, household, or family, and included more than a roof to sleep under. It included one’s property ownership, …show more content…
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) defines homelessness as “‘an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility (e.g., shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing.’ A homeless person is an individual without permanent housing.” This definition shows how the view of homelessness has changed since ancient Greece. In the United States in 2015, homelessness is seen as simply not having a permanent house, in contrast to the ancient Greek definition that encompassed people and