The Problem Of Homelessness In America

The United States of America has a huge epidemic and a big problem that has not been solved. Thousands of Americans sleep day and night on the sidewalks in cities with nothing over their heads or sometimes not even able to cover their body parts from the cold or rainy weather. The federal government has provided the homeless with very little aid while some state governments have begun to tackle the problem. In California, the Los Angeles County proposed Measure H, a plan to prevent and combat homelessness specifically in downtown Los Angeles. Measure H states that its goal is
“To fund mental health, substance abuse treatment, health care, education, job training, rental subsidies, emergency and affordable housing, transportation, outreach, …show more content…
But in reality, a typical American size home is around 2,600 square feet and building a home of that caliber is very costly. The Tiny House Movement is a social movement to choose between living in a small space between 100 and 400 square feet with the essential needs. Building these tiny houses, albeit small, provides permanent residency at a relatively low cost. A typical American house costs about $200,000 and up, but building multiple tiny houses in a form of a community only costs between $8,000-$10,000 after subsidies. A study performed in Los Angeles stated that placing four “chronic homeless” (Cost of Homelessness), or disabled homeless into a permanent home saved the city more than $80,000 annually. Another study performed in Seattle, WA had homeless people with severe alcoholic issues and mental problems reside in permanent housing for a year. Roughly $2,000 less was spent that year for the permanent house that included housing services and medical treatment (Cost of Homelessness). But although in the long run the state or county saved thousands of dollars each year, how will programs be funded? How many homes are going to be built? Are the homeless going to live off in these homes permanently and live of federal and state aid for their rest of the …show more content…
In that case, the attention should be to other families that are just days or months away from abandoning the place where they once called home. The primary focus should be on households that are closer to foreclosure by providing them with financial assistance rather than providing them with a place to stay. Meanwhile, households that have a stable job do not need more government assistance other than financial assistance. In many cases, homes are lost because of huge medical bills from the lack of medical insurance that build up to pay for the treatment. This results in them not having the finance for medical bills but also their house payment. To prevent such situation, the government should provide the proper medical insurance and medical institution to relieve the financial stigma that is being detrimental to the family home. Preserving a family’s household is key in preventing homelessness and to do so, provide a stable job income to ensure housing payment, house utilities as well as food on the table. Financial assistance, as well as job security, provide economic stability. In addition, educating families managing their income and health assistance are all methods of preventing families going down the path of homelessness. Educating all low-income families allows for families to learn and understand how to balance their income as many