Deinstitutionalisation

A husband sent to Rikers Island jail, and a protruding belly with another baby on the way, Belgica is $5,000 in debt from rent. In New York City, she had just lost her job in February and is being taken to court by her landlord. Her next option is to go to a homeless shelter, where it costs the city $100 a night to provide for one family. In one year, New York City spends $870 million that goes towards emergency beds. On average, many families will be without a home for 415 nights . The rise of homelessness in America rises thirty-two percent as more families are getting thrown out of their homes and entering homeless shelters(nipped). Homelessness is not a temporary problem that policymakers can solve with just a piece of paper. Even with government regulation, homelessness is increasing rapidly. Many people perceive homeless people as those just living on the streets that panhandle for money. The McKinney Act defines homeless people as those who do not have a permanent address, stays in a shelter, or public and private areas (Vicic). A research from the NSHAPC recorded that fifty-nine percent of all homeless people are single adults and sixty-two percent are families. And minorities make up twenty-four percent of the homeless population (Handbook). Most are usually single man wandering on the streets (Sand castles).They are usually younger.They tend to have been in their cities for a long period of time. Hispanics or Blacks tend to be in their middle ages. Many…

The Homeless Are Human Sleeping under bridges, on cold winter nights and starving until they find scraps of food, are the unimaginable experiences homeless people endure on a daily basis. In this photograph, taken at Skid Row, there is a homeless man lying in front of a painting that depicts a home. This photo brings light to the issue of homelessness and induces change for the homeless people in the United States. This photo is aimed towards the people who typically overlook the thousands of…

I had no idea what homelessness and panhandling was until I read these articles. The article on “Reality Check on Panhandling” correlate to the book, through Nathaniel is character as a homeless panhandler. Nathaniel did not have a place to live and lived outside on the street on Skid Row. The homeless stand outside in the rain, cold, and hot sun. Most of these homeless people are sick and with mental illness. They are alcoholics and drug addicts who sometimes don’t want treatment. There are…

There are 150 homeless people housed in the Central Iowa Shelter in the summer, and 400 cram into the same space to escape the cold in the winter months. 33% of homeless people have a severe mental illness as well, which adds to, if not initiates, their hardships (Homeless Mentally Ill par. 1). I once encountered one of these people at a soup kitchen. The man was very open about his mental illness and his positive experience in a mental hospital. Unfortunately, the mental hospital was shut down,…

In The Soloist, by Steve Lopez, Lopez shows great character through his befriending of the mystery that is Nathaniel, a homeless man in Skid Row. The story reveals the marvels small acts can cause, and brings attention to the issues facing homeless people. Lopez reveals that citizens need to do more to help solve the poverty problem, and that what seems insignificant to one can in fact make a huge difference to someone else. It only takes one act of generosity to make a lifetime of difference.…

I am sitting down watching your lecture over Plato’s Republic Book 2. In this lecture you discuss how Socrates suggests that the basis of people is their education; not just any education but the education that comes before people of born. As I am sitting here my little brother pulls up this television show titled Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home. This television show is about the homeless people who live in Los Angeles, California and how they live. This show pisses me off to say the least;…

The city that produces the stars of the world also is the homeless capital of America. Homelessness is a growing issue in America as of 2012 about 633,783 people that were homeless across the country(Holland). There were 44,359 homeless people in Los Angeles County and 25,686 in the city itself, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services. Homelessness damages the people affected mentally and physically like through their lost of skill. The inability to find the job because the fear of being…

Having a place to live is a fundamental necessity in life, it provides protection from bad weather, violence, and it improves the quality of life. Being able to write down an address on a job application should be an easy task to do, yet there are plenty of individuals who are unable to do so. Homelessness is a state of not having a permanent home or a safe and secure place to live in. In the City of Los Angeles they have named a town, "America 's Skid Row", where thousands of men and women…

“There are 1.56 million homeless people that used an emergency shelter or transitional housing program this year alone” (Family Promise of Greater Orlando) There is also a capricious number of destitute people living on the streets. One story in contrast would be by a man known as Steve Lopez. Steve Lopez, author of the book The Soloist, gives us an inside on the daily life of a middle aged man known by the name Nathaniel Ayers. Ayers, talented musician, has been living on the streets of Skid…

Every child learns early on not to “judge a book by its cover,” yet everyday people constantly judge one another by their appearance without reason. The enduring understanding “you have a view of the world that your upbringing and experiences have shaped” highlights the root of the judgment that most people show towards one another. I chose to focus on this enduring understanding because I thought that it was the most relatable one for the greatest number of people. I also choose this enduring…