A Story about the Homeless

After reading some articles on Homelessness I come to realize the severity of the problem here in our country as well as in the world but also how differently we define it. Especially from one country to another. For example in the United States, homelessness is defined as; A) individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. B) includes—children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement.

In Australia Homelessness is defined as: A) person is homeless if, and only if, he or she has inadequate access to safe and secure housing.

This list goes on from one country to another, you get the idea. Perhaps Mr Dominic Mapstone, a Social Worker and Director of Rebeccas Community a non profit in Australia may even say it best; 'An inadequate experience of connectedness with family and or community.' This fact is now recognized by Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Program.

So we can conclude people who do not have shelter are house-less - not simply homeless! This definition is further supported by the fact that if the problem was a lack of 'shelters' for the homeless, then why aren't all homeless shelters more busy or full? Homelessness is certainly about a lack of connectedness. These people long to belong with others in their family or local communities more so than simply having a 'shelter' to fall back on each night. That may be true, however the 'shelter' aspect of the term 'homelessness' resonates loud and clear all over. For the remainder of this hub I will use the term homeless or homelessness.

Whatever definition you choose to connect with, it is a serious problem globally and it is not getting any better. Here are some statistics for the United States - staggering! The number of homeless people worldwide has grown steadily in recent years. According to HUD's July 2008 3rd Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, HUD showed there were 671,888 sheltered and un-sheltered homeless persons nationwide in the United States alone. Now in June of 2009 that number was 727,304 homeless people nationwide, meaning about one in 400 Americans were without a home. This number comes from USA TODAY survey of all 460 localities that reported results to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Look up statistics globally and you will be astounded!

What I truly find most disturbing is families with children are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless. Families with children comprise roughly one-third of the nation's homeless population. Christine Riddle, director of the Michigan Coalition for the Homeless says, "In an economy with continued lower wages, job losses, manufacturing declining and people's rents increasing, people can't afford housing." We are seeing this on the news everyday here in this country.

On Fifth Street in downtown Los Angeles, "it was rare to see a woman on Skid Row five years ago," says Mitchell Netburn, executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. "Now it's common to see a long row of children getting on school buses." Earlier this week I read an article stating that California has many homeless kids in the school system and not a lot of people can tell who they actually are. Some of the families are hiding the fact that they have lost everything and are living in their cars and still sending their kids to school. So how many homeless are unaccounted for? Many are saying child homelessness is on the rise in the United States and it is reaching some alarming numbers. One in 50 children are homeless according to National Center for Homelessness. "We know the numbers are going to skyrocket," says Ellen Bassuk, president of the Newton, Mass.-based Center and an associate professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. The numbers are likely to get worse as the economy continues to decline.

So what are we doing about it? The good news is many organizations are stepping up to the plate to address this issue. To name a few I found here locally in Illinois; DuPage P.A.D.S., Lifespring Ministry, Chicago Christian Industrial League, New Moms Inc, Rebuilding Together Aurora, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Chicago Uptown Ministry, The Church of the Good Shepard Oswego, Safe Housing CrisisHelp Network, Hospitality House, Rebeccas Community (not local) but I love what Mr. Dominick Mapstone has done for this cause globally. I list these organizations mainly for direction for anyone who would like to donate either their time, money or anything else they can to help with this crisis. Each of these orgainizations should all be commended for their involvement.

Scott Schingleber, the director of Washington DC's Miriam's Kitchen may have a very good point by saying, "I think, as a society, until we wake up and say these are systemic issues that we can't address through volunteerism or individual donations, we're going to continue to see this problem." There seems to be no quick fix here. So many have been addressing the problem from day one.

The homelessness situation has changed here in the United States drastically. We are starting to emerge slightly from a global reccession which has added to the problem emmensely. My point is that in this day and time with so much wealth in our country, how can we not get this under control? We are not a third world country - I can slightly understand if we were.

In the Midwest winter is approaching quickly. Our hearts go out to the unfortunate who are homeless in these very unbearable cold climates. I ask each and every one of you who read this to take that under consideration where ever you live. A little help from you and me can go a long way until we are able to come up with a solution to the problem. Remember the homeless are all around us, not just the stereotypical drug addict homeless man or woman walking the streets at night, they are yesterdays families who lost everything to a hurricane or maybe a neighbor family who lost everything to a foreclosure crisis, maybe tragedy struck unexpectedly, maybe a divorse, maybe a health issue draining family savings. We are becoming all too familiar with the term 'tent cities'. Homelessness is becoming more and more of a 'middle class' issue today.

Today's children are tomorrows future, they deserve and need any support they can get! The obstacles these children face are huge. Being aware of what is going on is a first step in addressing it. The second step is doing what we can in our day to day lives to help those who have been affected by it. We need your precious time, maybe a small monetary donation, maybe a letter to congress - reply to "help wanted" signs at your local church or food bank. Anything will help push this in a forward direction and is greatly appreciated.