“In Detroit alone”, Veronika Scott, CEO of The Empowerment Plan-Detroit reports, “there are over 20,000 homeless people living on the streets. Additionally, there are 70,000 buildings are abandoned. Knowing there are only three main shelters in the city, only housing 1,600 individuals, the city does not even try to board the buildings up. The city officials know homelessness is a large issue, but do not know how to go about fixing it” (Scott, 2016). Veronika Scott, a 24-year-old recent college graduate, did something that many hope and dream of, but few actually successfully do- change the lives of thousands. As child, everyone around her predicted her life ending up as a failure. With both parents dealing with drug addiction, her mom struggling
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Homeless and health prove to be interwoven. Failing to have basic needs met serves as both a source and negative outcome of homelessness. Research from 2008 from the National Health Care for the Homeless Council found, “Homeless people are three to six times more likely to be ill than housed people” (as cited in “Heath care and the homeless”, 2009). Theoretically, preventive health care measures- healthy eating, exercise, vaccines and yearly check-ups- result in being the more financially friendly option. It is easier and cheaper to prevent a health problem from happening than to pay for the consequences. For instance, The American Diabetes Association reports, “…the typical monthly cost to treat diabetes runs from $350 - $900 for those that do not have insurance” (Mercer). A substantial portion of the homeless population lacks ways to receive the necessary medical care. These families are forced into survival mode, only looking day to day, not looking at the big picture out of necessity and no other choice. The families may consider themselves lucky to just have some food in their stomachs, regardless if it entails items off the fat full McDonald’s $1 with known negative health impacts, such as diabetes. Although individuals who are homeless often do have lower health literacy, they do have …show more content…
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to work on by promoting Healthy People 2010. The Healthy People 2010 initiative works on eliminating health disparities (Ritter and Hoffman, 2010). Any one can become homeless at anytime, regardless of race, yet homelessness is more prevalent with minorities. For instance, “In 2010, nearly one-third of black families with children lived in poverty, close to three times the rate of white families” (“The struggles of homeless minority families”). Race is a socially constructed idea, with very little genetic differences seen between each race, yet African Americans are subjected to much more racism and health disparities than Caucasians. As an example, “African American adults were 1.8 times more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to have been diagnoses with diabetes by a physician” (Ritter & Hoffman,
Homeless and health prove to be interwoven. Failing to have basic needs met serves as both a source and negative outcome of homelessness. Research from 2008 from the National Health Care for the Homeless Council found, “Homeless people are three to six times more likely to be ill than housed people” (as cited in “Heath care and the homeless”, 2009). Theoretically, preventive health care measures- healthy eating, exercise, vaccines and yearly check-ups- result in being the more financially friendly option. It is easier and cheaper to prevent a health problem from happening than to pay for the consequences. For instance, The American Diabetes Association reports, “…the typical monthly cost to treat diabetes runs from $350 - $900 for those that do not have insurance” (Mercer). A substantial portion of the homeless population lacks ways to receive the necessary medical care. These families are forced into survival mode, only looking day to day, not looking at the big picture out of necessity and no other choice. The families may consider themselves lucky to just have some food in their stomachs, regardless if it entails items off the fat full McDonald’s $1 with known negative health impacts, such as diabetes. Although individuals who are homeless often do have lower health literacy, they do have …show more content…
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to work on by promoting Healthy People 2010. The Healthy People 2010 initiative works on eliminating health disparities (Ritter and Hoffman, 2010). Any one can become homeless at anytime, regardless of race, yet homelessness is more prevalent with minorities. For instance, “In 2010, nearly one-third of black families with children lived in poverty, close to three times the rate of white families” (“The struggles of homeless minority families”). Race is a socially constructed idea, with very little genetic differences seen between each race, yet African Americans are subjected to much more racism and health disparities than Caucasians. As an example, “African American adults were 1.8 times more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to have been diagnoses with diabetes by a physician” (Ritter & Hoffman,