How Does Homelessness Affect The Community

Have you ever seen a homeless man standing on a street corner, asking for money and wondered ‘Why doesn’t he get a job? What does he need money for? Where is that money actually going? Is there any way I can help him?’ Don’t worry, you wouldn’t be alone. Many people in today’s society would agree that homelessness isn’t a good thing; so, how come the majority of cities aren’t doing anything about the 500,000 people living on the streets just in the United States? Lots of people are misinformed about what homelessness really means to the community. These topics that the population should be properly informed about include: actions that communities have already done for the homeless, what actions don’t help, things an average person could do to help, and why criminalizing homelessness has a negative impact.
Criminalizing and looking down upon the homeless has a very negative impact on the victims and the community as a whole.
Businesses and neighborhoods find it unpleasant and dangerous to have panhandlers on their street corners, causing reports to be filed to the police asking for action to eliminate these people. But, in reality, this does more harm than good of getting people off the streets. Issues such as the following occur more often than one may think: “Homeless persons who are arrested for non-violent offenses develop criminal records, accumulate fines, and may be temporarily incarcerated...” (Hodge, Homelessness and the public’s health). Many homeless people are unable to find sustainable jobs due to the fact that the law makes it so difficult for them to begin to build their lives back up in the first place. Less than 22% of homeless people have a regular job because an employer does not want to hire someone with a consistent criminal record. This also prevents them from finding safe, secure homes. The criminalization being homeless
creates even more of an obstacle for them when integrating into their new lives. With authority involved, there comes occasional violent discrimination from the forces. While removing homeless people from the streets, “measures frequently result in the destruction of homeless persons' personal property, including private documents and medications, but do not typically result in housing placements of homeless individuals” (Hodge). Those who are already homeless do not have much to begin with; so, ruining what little property they own wouldn’t help them any more in renewing themselves and have the ability to remove themselves off the streets. The homeless need to keep their records clean to be able to make themselves a living; therefore laws or fines should be at least lightened against them given their situations.
There are many ways that we and our communities can help our homeless citizens. Most think the most you can do is hand someone a few dollars and that’s it; but there are more impactful things that could be done. This could include things like running food kitchens or even providing jobs. One job for society is to integrate poor communities into the flow of work and opportunities. It would make it easier for those who are struggling to find sustainable living conditions and jobs.
The reason for this is because many poor communities are continuing to be isolated from the mainstream of the economy and society. This leads to a pattern of dysfunctional behaviors (Hambrick and Johnson, Future of Homelessness). Including the homeless in our everyday opportunities helps them begin having a positive outlook on life and keeps them out of trouble. There was a program introduced in Albuquerque, New Mexico with the goal to give every panhandler a job, at least a temporary one. As the mayor of the town says:
“So far with our pilot program, we've offered about 1,700 days of day work. We've connected 216 people to permanent employment opportunities. Twenty people actually qualified for our Housing First model, Heading Home, and they've been housed. And over 150 people have been connected to mental health substance abuse services through There's a Better Way.” (Berry, A practical way to help the homeless find work and safety)
This is an example of a successful program aimed at putting homeless people into the workforce. It’s important to highlight that people feel companionship while working with one another using this program. People have been housed, put under healthcare plans, and are earning their own ways. Overall, the program has been a success at bringing the community together. The fight against poverty and homelessness isn’t a personal one; it takes a society to break through it. One may say that panhandlers don’t change and that’s why they remain poor and unemployed; therefore, it’s a waste of money to even try. Statistics tell a different story. Through the There’s a Better Way in Albuquerque, New Mexico (mentioned above), nearly every unemployed person was given a job. Many were offered permanent careers through this program and remained employed, then went on to owning their own homes. By commissioning their university, they studied the financial outcome of the program: “We could tell the taxpayers, we can save you 31.6 percent over the cost of leaving someone to struggle for survival on the streets” (Berry). They also say by housing 650 people, the city saved 5 million dollars in a year. Although one would think that trying to house so many homeless people would cost a lot, it actually saved this city a large amount. Albuquerque is only one example of a success story of helping homeless Americans find jobs. Imagine what this could do if we did something similar in every city. A program like There’s a Better Way would be extremely beneficial to any town or city. The idea of simply offering community service jobs would not only help make our cities look better, but feel better. Some jobs such as litter clean-up and construction not only give plenty of new jobs for people, but also make the bonds in the community stronger and better our physical and mental outlook on our cities. As Berry explained, “So far, with the pilot program and a couple days a week, and a fantastic human being and a Dodge van, we've cleaned up 400 city blocks in the city of Albuquerque. We've picked up over 117,000 pounds of trash, weeds and litter.” This is an example of how the work that the homeless do is worth it. It makes the community look better, which naturally makes it a happier one. Those who work alongside the panhandlers and the panhandlers themselves gain a sense of a stronger sense of community together, creating more motivation for them to work hard for their new lives. Paying panhandlers nine dollars an hour, feeding them on site, and connecting them to counseling services are easy things to do. This demonstrates the simplicity of the program and ones like it. It doesn’t take much money or brains to get it started, making it easy for any type or size area to do it. Giving jobs to those who need it could benefit any place in the world and has no downsides. It takes people off the streets, gives them money, feeds them, houses them, and makes communities stronger. People are misinformed about what homeless does to their own communities. It leads to miscommunication and a lack of opportunities. Through dedication in our societies, homelessness can be helped and prevented. It’s demonstrated through hard working people, non-strugglers willing to make a difference for those who do, and the warmth of acceptance. Francis Duggans says in his poem, “A Homeless Man,” “Some may say at his age he should not be homeless that life's many chances he left them go by / But they don't know him or his circumstances he is a person just like you and I.”