Homeless Neglect

In the article, New York Times, Scott James writes on a topic about homeless people in the city of San Francisco and how their mayor proclaims to help the homeless relocate their position due to the destruction on the Transbay Terminal bus station. James speaks of how the city is going to pay for the relocation of the homeless. The citizens of San Francisco agree to their terms and offer to help relocate the homeless too, so that the homeless people will not die from pollution and smog in the air. The mayor has all the news broadcasted in the media making the city believe he is actually going to do what he said. Overall, only 100 homeless people actually receive help the rest die because of bad health conditions.

This is a form of neglect to homeless people. Supreme Courts, the Judicial System, City Commissioners, Mayors etc. always speak on behalf of homeless people and how they are unwilling to help them. Most individuals running for such high statuses lie their way to the top; proclaiming they will take care of the poor and homeless, but in reality do nothing for them. This is false hope to all homeless individuals. I am here to say, that Americans neglect their own kind. When it comes down to homeless or poor individuals Americans lend them NO money. They have few homeless shelters and the few they have struggle to remain open.

When our country faced turmoil and natural disasters we waited til there was not enough time to save all souls. America has faced issues such as Katrina and 911 where the homeless were at lost then and are at lost now. FEMA, an American based organization, claiming to help all only helped a few. Americans gave their own people little money to help restore and rebuild the damages. Yet, when natural disasters occurred across seas, Americans gave billions of dollars to help contribute to the poor and homeless who were suffering. When will our own people come to the actualization that we need to help our own, that we have civilians here suffering?

After reading my opponents article over and over again I begin to realize how heartless the American people can be toward their own kind. City commissioners, mayors, politicians are the main people, who want the homeless population to be taken out of plain sight but yet, are unwilling to help them keep a homeless shelter or help them get out of the streets. Citizens in America are quick to prejudge the homeless and call them lazy because they cannot get a job; but yet, they fail to realize these individuals cannot receive jobs without a permenate address. Yes, getting a P.O. Box is another option, but has it ever occurred to my opponent that homeless people cannot receive a P.O. Box because you have to pay to get one and pay for them to remain open, without money to get one is simply impossible.

For the City Commissioners that prejudge the homeless, did you know that all homeless people are not lazy and that actually one third of the homeless population already have jobs; and in many cities over half the population has jobs as well. Although, they are employed if the economic rate is bad or low they are always going to be stuck in a hole because these jobs that they posses are minimum wage. Minimum wage cannot cover the actual daily expenses in today’s society. Most homeless individuals were once well off in life, but a lot of times they become homeless because, alimony, child support, the 25% student loans request out of your income or they either lose their jobs or their hours are cut due to cutbacks or money issues. In result of all of that, they become incapable of paying their bills and get evicted from their living facilities and forced to stay either in cars or on the streets. Lazy homeless people are something we cannot call these individuals because statistics show that they are hardworking people.

Oh, so you are afraid to talk to a homeless person because he or she is having conversations with his or herself? The absolute wrong thing to do frown upon or despise these people because of the way they are. City Commissioners arrest these innocent individuals and trial them for being on drugs when in reality they just suffer from a mental illness. For instance, in a case of illegal search and seizure, a state trooper illegally searched and detained a homeless man; by claiming he suspected the homeless man was dealing drugs. Doing absolutely nothing wrong the homeless man is falsely accused. It is who Americans will look at them and avoid them, prejudge them and assume they are on drugs.

Americans look down on the homeless people who are desperate search for food. These individuals need something to eat in order to survive. They search for food in dumpsters, allies, and sidewalks anything they can find. In Fort Lauderdale the mayor went around the town spraying the dumpsters with rat poison so that he could prevent the homeless from eating within them. Instead of helping the homeless people get food or sparing them some change or dollar bills we would rather see them search for it in dumpsters and complain about how much of a distraction they are to visitors or sightseers. The homeless people who necessarily do not have a job earn money by picking up and selling cans, plastic bottles or other recyclables, just to go to desperate measures in order to eat for one day.

McDonald’s is a hot spot amongst the homeless population, due to the fact they are open 24/7 and have a cheaper menu. Many Americans typically complain about the sight of seeing homeless people in the fast food restaurant, because they are either begging for money or lowering the value of that particular restaurant. Why should Americans complain about helping a homeless individual if the reason he or she is begging is for a good cause? Americans can feed homeless people in Africa, Asia, China, etc. but neglect their own in their country.

America the helping state, always willing to help and lend our money, but when push comes to shove, they quickly get on a budget when it comes down to lending out money to the homeless in America. Americans tend to be nasty when it comes down to their money. They feel as though they should not have to help the next person in line who is either poor or homeless, because they are working for everything they own and the homeless should be doing the same. In a lot of cases that should not be the way we as Americans should view things. I feel as though we should be the first to help this country stay on top of the pyramid and help our people.

Homeless people get the worst end of the stick. They are asked to stay in homeless shelters that are nasty and tend to have a lot of mildew. Most of the time the people who work within the shelters carry nasty attitudes and treat the people with complete disrespect. A lot of homeless people refuse to stay within these facilities because of two reasons; either the homeless individual is a drug user and the facility does not allow drugs or the homeless people refuse to follow the rules and regulations when it deals with the check in or check out times.

Many homeless people do not even get the opportunity to use these shelters that are scantly dispersed across the United States because most homeless individuals work, and the check in hours are hard to catch if the shelter hours of check in are incompatible with their work hours. Even if they could make it to the check in hours the lines are ridiculously long that they would have to remain in line up to hours and it is not always plausible that they will get a room in that particular shelter. And if a homeless individual had to work night shift they would not be capable of making it back to the shelter before curfew. Due to these type of issues most homeless people decide to sleep outside to not have to go through the hassle.

It hurts me to know that we have these shelters that can only help a certain amount of people. Think about the people who cannot make curfew or check in hours due to these conditions, it is shameful. It is more discouraging to have to imagine these people living on the streets in the cold weather. Kozel, talks about how a man lived in a goodwill slot for years before he grew out of it. I hate to hear of people having to find place to sleep at night. Not only having to find places but locating the right places to sleep. A lot of places restrict homeless people from sleeping on their property and get them arrested. As hard as it is to locate a place they have to make best of what they have. It is not enough shelters in the United States to help our people. These people are sleeping on benches, under highways, bridges, boxes, trees, etc. and we have a roof over our head and will not think twice about the homeless man we see on the side of the road. Sleet, rain, snow, and heat they live through it all.

The worst thing that bothers me about these homeless shelters is the fact that many politicians want them shut down. They will allow mold or mildew to build up and create bad living conditions making a lot of homeless people sick to kill them off. When homeless shelters request for extra money from the state or city they are quickly rejected. It is rare they receive any money for maintenance. Some heartfelt Americans volunteer in the homeless shelter to help clean and keep the facility up to par, but it is rare they receive much help.

In the year 2001 America was in a desperate need of help, September 11 better known as 911 many individuals lost their lives and loved ones. Sad time and very tragic but little was done to help the homeless people who were already in danger prior to the incident. Homeless at the time the United States faced chaos many homeless people who happened to be around the twin towers during these violent attacks were killed instantly. No name to their face these people were never recognized. Due to such a disastrous time the homeless population increased after 911 by the next three-months in New York City. The economy began to decline and more homeless people met more obstacles. At a time like this we needed every American to extend their hand out to these people but instead they were still withdrawing. There was a major drop in employment opportunities and charitable contributions. Yet, a steady increase in homeless shelters and security. Sad thing is these people were still without luck because security wanted proof of identification, which made things more difficult for people who lacked a home address. Is there ever going to be any hope for these people, lets take a look? According to Alyson Paige the answer is NO! If a person had no address they were asked to show ID and if they just so happened to lack ID they have to go get another one but were REQUIRED to bring a birth certificate! Wow, so the government is telling me that these people who just lost everything has to magically retrieve these items? Not to surprising.

When the United States went through another tragic event with Hurricane Katrina the homeless people in New Orleans had no where to run and hide. When the levies broke they were instantly wiped out and became drowning victims. With no shelter the homeless population of New Orleans did their best to survive by hiding under highways, dumpster, etc. this time hiding was not good enough. Even people with houses had no luck, they were wiped out as well from the fierce water. Just like 911 the homeless population grew rapidly and the death rate as well.

After Hurricane Katrina went through the city of New Orleans, the homeless population skyrockets to an estimated 12,000 people now homeless. Homeless people and victims due to Hurricane Katrina asked Mayor Ray Nagin for $20 million in rental assistance and 3,000 more permanent supportive housing vouchers. These people received nothing for what they asked for and were still left on the streets. FEMA only helped a few individuals who were homeless in an interview 30% of the people living under the bridge ended up living there due to the lost of FEMA. FEMA, a federal government based organization, promised a lot to people and still they received no help.

When an earthquake struck Haiti and Japan, America gave out billions of dollars to help these people. For Haiti Americans gave out an estimate of $5.2 billion and for our own people during Katrina, FEMA dispersed the large amount of only $400 million. When it comes down to 911 FEMA helped the people by giving out $970 million. When the earthquake struck Japan they were able to get about $4.2 billion. When it comes down to our own country America can only do so much for them yet, when another country is facing turmoil America can do a whole lot to help them. Our people are homeless, jobless, and starving and America is still unable to help them.

Americans have charities for the homeless, yes; but if you do your research these charities that we have for the homeless population are in fixed locations, and only help a few people. The homeless charities should be trying to help these homeless people learn to read and write so that they can better their skills in order for them to receive a job. Most homeless charities are focused on dispersing out hot meals and a place to lay their heads at night, yes this is good; but what about the Americans who have the audacity to criticize these people for being lazy. A man cannot gain skills over night if they are lacking the material they need in order to get a job. I feel as though the government should be taking action and hire an experienced staff to coordinate various funding streams, especially federal grants Train providers of mainstream services such as health clinics, public assistance offices, and food pantries, about how to integrate homeless awareness into their usual procedures. To do so, this will require a significant amount of outreach by homeless programs to service providers that may not be used to addressing the issue.

In the year 2012 the homeless people will be cut short of funds by a mere $20.5 million. According to Otto, After paying for “priority services” such as keeping more than 1,000 homeless individuals and families in apartments provided through the city’s permanent supportive housing program and maintaining a resource center for homeless families, there would be scant funds remaining for other needs.

Now, how can the government only help more than 1,000 people in America when our homeless population is about 700,000 to 2 million people? That goes to show you that our politicians do not really care for our people. They can only “help” more than a one thousand people that is ridiculous. In my mind helping more than 1,000 people from the government is basically helping none. We have up to 2 million people in need and they can only extend help to 1,000 people across the United States. Wow, the wealthiest country is in deed suffering. Yet, we want to portray our Country as wealthy and helping but we cannot even get out own people off the streets.

America cuts funds, despise the homeless, help everyone else, and neglect the homeless in America. It is because of our leaders in our country that we see such tragedy amongst the homeless. Our city commissioners, mayors’ etc. has a strong voice that can easily influence the weak people in America. Americans tend to be more persuasive and goes with the flow, it’s rare that we see anyone step out of their way to fight against a City commissioner; mayor etc. in what they believe is to be right. Few Americans have a heart and try to lend a penny, dime, or nickel to the poor; trying to help them get off the streets or find something to eat.

The real question comes into play when will the millionaires have a heart for the homeless? It is a very few amount of people who actually recognize the poverty in America who are wealthy enough to do something about it. Yet, it is people like me who has no change to necessarily spare, but will give their last dime to help feed someone who is less fortunate than them. It is people like me who will one day become a multi-millionaire and give so much money back to the homeless and poor. Once again, it is people like me who spends their weekends volunteering at local homeless shelters just to have a casual conversation or help feed the homeless. It is people like me that Americans need to be but yet they strive in a different direction.

Thank God for President Barrack Obama, who is our country leader. He demonstrates how we should act towards every individual. He portrays such great qualities and it is people like me who strive to be him. He posses qualities such as, helping every individual rather you are homeless, poor, middle class, or high class he is going to help you and not discriminate.

Believing in a change just like my President is what I hope our country can do. Change our thoughts and viewpoints on how they look at homeless individuals. Stop the unneeded violence and arrest on innocent people. Put an end to mindless conversations about how lazy, unclean, and unfit they are for the American image. If they want to see a difference in these people they have to be willing to help the homeless population and keep these shelter open and feed these hungry/starving individuals. If the American image is so important to some Americans then they need to help become the change they wish to see.

WORK CITED

"FEMA: One Week Remains For Evacuees To Request Fema Hotel Code." FEMA | Federal Emergency Management Agency. 26 Jan. 2006. Web. 15 July 2011. http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=23363.

"Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA, 2004." National Coalition for the Homeless. June 2005. Web. 15 July 2011. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/hatecrimes/introduction.html.

Jervis, Rick. "Homeless Still Feel Katrina 's Wrath - USATODAY.com." News, Travel, Weather, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, U.S. & World - USATODAY.com. USA Today, 17 Mar. 2008. Web. 15 July 2011. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-16-homeless_N.htm.

"NCH Reports and Papers." National Coalition for the Homeless. Web. 24 July 2011. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/. Otto, Mary. "2012 Budget: Room for the Homeless? | Street Sense." Street Sense - Raising Public Awareness on the Issues of Homelessness and Poverty. Washington D.C. Street Sense, 11 May 2011. Web. 15 July 2011. http://www.streetsense.org/2011/05/2012-budget-room-for-the-homeless/.

Paige, Alyson. "About Homeless People After the 911 Situation | EHow.com." EHow | How to Videos, Articles & More - Trusted Advice for the Curious Life | EHow.com. EHow. Web. 15 July 2011. http://www.ehow.com/about_4644451_homeless-people-after-situation.html. Preston, Caroline, and Nicole Wallace. "U.S. Charities Raise $64-Million for Japan Relief - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the Nonprofit World with News, Jobs, and Ideas." Home - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the Nonprofit World with News, Jobs, and Ideas. 16 Mar. 2011. Web. 15 July 2011. http://philanthropy.com/article/US-Charities-Raise/126759.

"Why Don 't Homeless People Just Get Jobs?" Squidoo : Welcome to Squidoo. Web. 15 July 2011. http://www.squidoo.com/why-homeless-people-dont-just-get-a-job.

“Research Argument”
Jasmine R. Bell
July 25, 2011
ENC 1101, Section 10
Dr. DeSilver Cohen

Cited: "FEMA: One Week Remains For Evacuees To Request Fema Hotel Code." FEMA | Federal Emergency Management Agency. 26 Jan. 2006. Web. 15 July 2011. http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=23363. "Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA, 2004." National Coalition for the Homeless. June 2005. Web. 15 July 2011. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/hatecrimes/introduction.html. July 25, 2011 ENC 1101, Section 10