Homeless People example essay topic

The homeless population is growing with astonishing numbers climbing to the highest we have seen yet. Cities are building shelters as fast as they can the homeless keep pouring out of them again. It is sad to say that the biggest and fastest growing part of the homeless population is families. The typical homeless family is a single mother in her 20's with 2 children under 6, and the average age of a homeless person in the United States is 9.

Homeless children are at a greater risk for not graduating, and are more likely to drop out. From bouncing back and forth from school because their families continue to move from place to place. Major factors that contribute to homelessness are poverty, unequal housing, inequality in the labor market, family disruption and health issues. Children have it the worst being brought up in low income or even homeless families. Almost 1 in 4 (24%) under the age of three lived in poverty in 1995 (Doctor's for Global Health). They also continue on to say that these 2.8 million poor children face a greater risk of impaired brain development due to the risk factors associated with poverty.

Impacts to homeless children rage from childhood development deficiencies to poor health. Nearly 14% of the US population or 36.5 million people live below the national poverty line. About 17% of a homeless person's income is from handouts, e.g. panhandling. Also another problem facing the homeless population is substance abuse, and other medical conditions this are at higher rates then the general population.

Along with medical concerns of the homeless population physicians may be confronted with the dilemma of weather to treat the uninsured. Most homeless people do not have Medicaid or any other health insurance. Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) is the only federal funded health care program for the homeless. HCH health and social workers provide services in 48 states. Despite its effeteness in treating the homeless individuals the project is too small to reach large numbers of homeless in need of medical service, HCH only is able to serve 500,000 homeless Americans. In New York State there are many families that are living in poverty conditions.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the 5 highest counties in New York State are Kings County with 539,413 people, Queens County with 335,203 people, the Bronx County with 327,927 people, New York County with 274,855 people and finally Erie County with 113,959 people. It is no surprise to see those counties up there but what is shocking to see is that Erie is one of the top five. Niagara County is actually quite low with only 24,134 estimated people living in poverty. The Lowest ranked county was Hamilton County with only 530 people. The total for the state was as of 1999 is 2,566,936 people. The list of people is including all the ages of people in each county.

According to fact find there are only 4 counties in New York State have an average income between $63,582 and $72,279 a year and then 3 counties their average is $49,640 and $55,039, 14 Counties make between $39,859 and $47,030, 16 counties make between $35,347 and $39,189 per year and the remaining 17 make between $27,611 and $34,823. Erie and Niagara counties surprisingly are in the next to last group with making between $35,347 and $39,189 per year. According to James Jude Patton, this is what a homeless would expect to go through if he depended on a charity for shelter. Many times the mission staff would be homeless volunteers and they would steal any money made by selling blood plasma.

In many missions the staff would keep your clothing and you would sleep in your underwear. The homeless people would usually be woken up by the lights being turned on. Sometimes the lights would remain on all night. In the morning one of the staff would shout for the homeless men to wake up. The homeless people had to wait in line for long periods of time to get their clothes and almost everything else. Upon leaving the shelter you could go to a temporary labor place if there was one.

But more likely to a library most libraries open- at the earliest at 8: 00 a.m. Waiting for libraries or blood plasma places to open takes up a lot time for the homeless. If you slept in the mission for three nights and there was no other place for transients to sleep then you would probably be on the interstate hitchhiking by 8: 00 a.m. Most missions across the country only give you three nights lodging every 30 days, and in most cities there is usually just a single mission.

If there was a bridge over the interstate at the off ramp where you were let off last you could sleep under the bridge- the bridge being your shelter. A homeless man could expect to sleep under a bridge alongside an interstate highway about half the time. Also many homeless go some place warm for the winter in much the same way the birds migrate south. If the homeless person could still get a bed he would probably wait in the library until check-in time which would be different at different missions. The religion of most missions is two things if anything-loud and simple. Showers are mandatory, but washing your clothes in sinks was always prohibited.

After service you could expect a second helping especially if there was no place in the city to eat breakfast or lunch then there would be showers and you get a towel to dry off with- to get a towel you would have to check your clothing in a basket for the night as mentioned earlier. The homeless shelters are a lot like prisons in that they institutionalize people. On some days, you may get to see a social worker if you are homeless for a long period of time. You wait in line to get in the mission, for the library to open, you wait for lunch, and you wait for a ride. Families living in poverty are much more likely to be residing in conditions where hot water and working toilets are unavailable, electrical wiring is exposed, and there is rodent infestation and overcrowding, conditions that impact children's ability to rest or do homework and that may contribute to stress and depression in family members. Living in poor quality conditions generally entails neighborhood environments with poorer quality childcare, schools, and a lack of positive role models.

Children raised in such an environment have higher rates of externalizing disorders and leave school earlier. Providing more support for the importance of the environment in families who have a child with a disability, other research offers evidence of better coping in families that live in supportive community environments. web web web web web web web web web.