Housing First . . . .

 Housing first is a program that provides people experiencing homelessness with a home of their own with no strings attached.

They provide the home first followed by a numerous amount of resources to help them cope with their situation. They provide therapy for the mentally ill, drug addicted, and also mediation services for those who have experienced hard times.

Their Focus . . .

Housing First programs share critical elements:

A focus on helping individuals and families access and sustain permanent rental housing as quickly as possible without time limits;

A variety of services delivered to promote housing stability and individual well-being on an as-needed basis

A standard lease agreement to housing – as opposed to mandated therapy or services compliance.


http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/housing_first

Streetwise . . .

Streetwise is a non profit organization which creates a job system for those in poverty. Streetwise creates a magazine in which they sale to " Street Vendors" for seventy-five cents and in return the Vendor sales the magazine to the public for two dollars making a small but beneficial profit.

To me this is a great opportunity for these people. Not only are they earning a wage for them to keep themselves an their family up for the time being but they are learning to cope back into a normal society with their since of responsibility.  

 The only opposition i would make to the company is, what happens to the vendors if they do not make enough profits to cover for the expenses they had to make to buy the streetwise magazines. They need to make some type of assurance for these clients because obviously they do not have enough funds to be taking this much of a gamble; for these poverty stricken citizens they need every penny earned. If the organization creates a magazine buy back program for the vendors then this organization will truly be a success.

** Streetwise corporation should buy back each left-over magazine purchased at 75 cents for 50 cents**

Home At Last ? . . . .

Pathways to housing is an organization that gives homes those without , with no strings attached. This means the occupant does not have to be clean from drugs, mentally stable, or employed. 

Honestly I think this is a great program; some may disagree due to the fact that we are giving people who are obviously not structurally sound a place to go an revert to the degrading habits that put them into this situation in the first place. I think giving these people a home is the best thing for them because with the responsibility they gain it motivates them to further themselves for the better.

In the case we took a look at a homeless man by the name Footie' was a occupant to this program; he was a strung out alcoholic who was very seizure prone. After he was given a home he fault not only obligated but pressured into staying sober because he did not want to be judged as a disappointment to the people trying to get him on the right path. 

If we can get every problematic homeless person in a program like this , not only will we cut down the homeless problem but also we will reduce the amount of substance abuse across the nation. 

Homes For The Homeless . . . .

   Homes For The homeless is an organization designed with the sole purpose to find shelter for homeless families in California.  The only " problem " is the homes that the families begin to occupy are vacant foreclosed homes owned by the bank; technically this whole organization is a big squatting scandal, but to these families it is a literal life savor.

The founder Mr. Romeau takes his crew out threw urban neighborhoods to look for abandon houses, when they find a house they take careful looks to see if it is suitable for living if so they do follow up visits and move a family. 

Some may believe that this is a irrational way of trying to solve the homeless problem because these people are braking the law and putting themselves and their family at risk. On the other hand I think this not only rational but perfectly acceptable not to mention humanly moral.  We have all these empty houses that are just going to waste and we continue to watch families as the endure the cold wet ground EVERY night , but yet there the criminals ? This is ABSURD !

Maybe in the perfect society this type of first instinct behavior but since obviously we do not endure the perfect environment so for now programs like this are a vital necessity.

CHECK OUT THE HOMES FOR HOMELESS VIDEO

On Compassion . .

 ** Before you read this blog please know that I am playing devils advocate to make you think and maybe disagree . .


As i read " ON COMPASSION " I was first drawn in by the authors rejoice toward human nature and how she explained that  inside each one of us we should dig down deep to help each other through our struggles, specific speaking toward the homelessness problem. She describes a situation were a restaurant owner fixes a bagged breakfast for a seemingly homeless man every morning; this is when I started to disagree with her. Why fix the man breakfast every morning ? This doesn't solve his problem, if she really cared about seeing this man prosper why not give him a job at the diner ? This just doesn't make any since to me; we as humans have become so dependent upon each other that we do not know how to fend for ourselves anymore. Even though we may have good intentions when we give handouts to the homeless we are truly doing them more harm. Im not saying kick them to the curb and forget about them but instead of crippling the man why not let him fight threw his struggles, it is guaranteed that he will be a stronger man because of it.  For instance even in other species survival is key; a mother bird will teach her offspring to fly and immediately after they are expected to find their own food and begin their own life. If you give a man a fish he will eat for a day but if you teach a man how to fish then he will eat for a lifetime.

State Of Homelessness . . .

Little as it may seem , is there hope ? - Maybe not . . .

The number of individuals in homeless families has decreased by one percent nationally but increased twenty percent or more in eleven states 

The crazy thing is, even though we continue to fight to decrease the homeless rate; it dramatically increased in    our nations capital Washington DC. This is shocking because how are we supposed to believe that our government can provide us with help to fix this problem if they are quick to overlook the people that are right on their doorstep . . 

This is a sad truth 

Facts & Figures . . .

WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF HOMELESSNESS ?

There is not a specific one cause directed toward homelessness , but here are some of the main causes. .

Lack of affordable housing

Poverty

Unemployment

Substance abuse

Some of these cases may be the fault of the homeless but most of the struggles they have came upon are not to the fault of themselves. Unemployment and lack of affordable housing are two dramatic causes of homelessness that can not be prevented by the person themselves. We as an entire community and nation have to come together to make ourselves and our government aware of the challenges we face. This is the only way that we will come close to being able to solve the homeless crisis all together. 

How many of the homeless are children?

 "One out of 50—or about 1.5 million—American children are homeless each year, according to a 2009 study by the National Center on Family Homelessness. "

Faces Of Homeless . . .

" And I do know, if its a God, he was watching over me because I'm sitting here today "

I was amazed in hearing how in each story these people, although their situation was unbearable they still had hope and faith. Many of them relied on god because they knew that alone they could not overcome their situation.

This has made me very humble an appreciative toward the little things I have because there are so many others in the world who do not have the same privileges.

NOT ENOUGH . . . .

  I was in great alarm , baffle an distraught as I read threw the article of underlying causes of homelessness; specifically in the Chicago area.

It was shocking to see that on average a person must work 133 hours at minimum wage just to afford a low grade two bedroom apartment; this not including utilities appliances and food expenses.
By far the most alarming statistic that i came across in the article stated "In NO state today does a full-time minimum wage job enable a family to pay fair market rent for a two bedroom apartment ! "

The way I see it is the primary reason for homelessness is not of the non-sheltered occupant but its directly fault to the government an further more the minimum wage standards. If what the government feels suitable for a standard of living is not enough to put food on the table and provide a standard roof above our heads then maybe we need to re-think who we elect into office. Our officials do not and there have not ever known what it is like to feel the cold moist wither of the night air hit there skin as you lay in pity.