Are we doing enough as Americans to help end homelessness?

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In 2009 there were an estimated 650,000 homeless people living on the streets on any given night. Contrast that with there being 317 million people in America today. Many of the homeless are disabled, either mentally or physically.

“As many as 3.5 million people experience homelessness in a given year (1% of the entire U.S. population or 10% of its poor), and about 842,000 people in any given week.”
-Wikipedia
 
Perhaps Americans should do more…Certainly most “Christians” should…Hopefully Everyone will…

Perhaps it is more important to feed, to clothe, to save one soul…?
Question?..Was Jesus homeless? :confused:

Perhaps, perchance to dream…ay …devoutly to be wished for an end to homelessness for those who wish not to be …
 
I think the premise is false. We are going about it wrong. Increasing dependance on the government has fostered the increase and allowed the politicians when to decide to put the vulnerable out the door. There would be so much more resources available if we had a reasonable tax system that allowed religious tighing without impoverishing 95% of the population. All the social services functions need to be through charitable private sources without government intrusion. Let the faith based do the good works.
 
I always assumed that street people, while they are on the street, are home???

Truthfully, we keep electing bleeding heart tax and spend politicians who succeed only in creating a larger and larger dependent class which expects their entitlements. False compassion is creating an incapable generation.
 
It depends on what you mean by “we as Americans”. Generally that ends up being the govt taxing all of us and then spending foolishly through bloated bureaucratic programs. How well has public housing worked, considering that such projects are usually the most crime ridden drug infested places in their cities? How well has the food stamp program worked considering it seems to foster fraud like it did in the LA Walmarts?

What would help end homelessness is the creation of incentives for business growth, especially small business. At the same time we need to end the ridiculous amount of illegal immigration into this country when so many of our own citizens don’t have work. Then we need incentives for the creation of true low income housing, and by that I mean cheap basic housing one can afford on minimum wage fulltime. Oh wait, Obama pretty much ended fulltime work at that wage level. There are too many regulations and too many disincentives to helping people help themselves.

Suppose you had a small company and needed 10 guys for basic labor for a few weeks. Could you go out and find some homeless to do the work, and pay them $10hr cash for their work? Sure, but it would be mostly illegal. You have to hire them properly with a big paper trail to satisfy the tax scheme. Done yet? No, now you need to pay for each one to have worker’s compensation insurance. Don’t forget to pay for the unemployment insurance too. Don’t make any mistakes as one is sure to fake a back injury and sue you over it. Disability is the ticket nowadays.
 
Well let’s be honest - the American healthcare system isn’t exactly great. There would be many with mental illnesses (one of the primary factors in homelessness as you said) receiving inadequate treatment. So the answer would be “no” from that perspective.
 
For reasons previously stated, NO, we will never end homelessness.😦
 
Until every one of us individually accepts the responsibility that we have as Christians to give from our plenty and not expect the government to pick up the slack there will always be homeless on our streets throughout the world. I live in Australia which has a good standard of living for most of us. Like most Americans we live in our four bedroom homes on a quarter acre with two cars, a pool and air conditioning where our indigenous live in humpies outside our main country towns suffering third world diseases.I am fearful of what my Lord will say! However the problem of poverty is so great it is almost insurmountable given our society structures. If we all give what we can and just that little bit more we would make a big difference without the bureaucracy.
 
SpidersfromMars said:
Well let’s be honest - the American healthcare system isn’t exactly great. There would be many with mental illnesses (one of the primary factors in homelessness as you said) receiving inadequate treatment. So the answer would be “no” from that perspective.
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Not just that but many of the mentally ill homeless have become that way because they rebelled against treatment, and broke the rules of the places where they were staying. There are chronic homeless who want money, yes, but they don’t want any rules, structure, or authority in their lives. Of course modern liberalism recognizes this as “freedom” and some cities have idiotic programs that give free apartments to active drug addicts and alcoholics.
That’s right…the addict can drink themselves silly or shoot up heroin with dirty needles in the safety of their free apartment. The thinking is that the ravages of the street cause the drug abuse and once they have safe housing and free food they will get well. It is often ignored that they had safe housing, food, and a job when they became addicts. 🤷
 
Not all the homeless are drug addicts and/or mentally ill. I am close to being homeless and I currently spend 75% of my income on rent. I am renting at pretty much the bottom level. Landlords simply choose to rent to more qualified tenants. I rent a room and I will never be able to rent an apartment. I imagine I am not the only one in this situation.

My area needs more lower cost housing but that would take government interference.
 
MSSheBear said:
Not all the homeless are drug addicts and/or mentally ill. I am close to being homeless and I currently spend 75% of my income on rent. I am renting at pretty much the bottom level. Landlords simply choose to rent to more qualified tenants. I rent a room and I will never be able to rent an apartment. I imagine I am not the only one in this situation.

My area needs more lower cost housing but that would take government interference.
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I realize not all homeless are addicts and I did not say they were. When you say you rent a room, do you mean a single room by itself? I’ve rented a room before in a house and had shared access to 1500 sf of house including kitchen and bath. It was actually luxury compared to renting an apartment. Anyway if you just have a room by itself with no amenities you might consider sharing living space with others. I know someone who though he has no problem with drugs or alcohol chooses to live in a sober living house where each person pays $60-70 wk. He does this because his temp labor job makes that all he can afford.
 
We cannot discuss homelessness without discussing mental illness. The majority of homeless persons are severely MENTALLY ILL and need daily medication management and supervision. State run mental hospitals were closed in the 1980s and since then only the wealthy can afford long term mental healthcare in private institutions. The others become alcoholics and/or drug addicts. When their families can’t take it anymore they kick them out and they have nowhere to go. 😦

Most mentally ill persons do not realize they are ill, deny their illness, or are too ashamed to get help. The one’s who choose to get help cannot afford it for very long. Most insurance companies do not even offer it because of the outrageous price of psych medication which cost on average $300-$2000 per month. The first psychiatrist office visit is $350 and then $125 per visit for medication management which ranges from every 3 weeks to every 6 months. Who can afford this? What usually happens is the person either quits or gets fired from their job because they are sick. Some eventually get so bad they will check themselves into a private mental hospital (knowing they can’t afford it). They get to stay there for 48-72 hours. They get to see a doctor, get prescriptions filled for 30 days and then they are kicked back out on the street after the 48-72 hours. Thirty days later they come back. It’s a never ending cycle. Mental illness is a chemical imbalance in the brain. It is a disease like cancer or diabetes. It is an outrage that most American’s think the mentally ill are “cowards”, “weak”, “takers” or think “they should just snap out of it”. Unless you have felt the pain and agony you will never understand. :mad:

Ahh…but “America has the greatest healthcare system in the world.” :rolleyes:

I’m through with my rant now. God Bless.
 
Deus_tecum said:
I realize not all homeless are addicts and I did not say they were. When you say you rent a room, do you mean a single room by itself? I’ve rented a room before in a house and had shared access to 1500 sf of house including kitchen and bath. It was actually luxury compared to renting an apartment. Anyway if you just have a room by itself with no amenities you might consider sharing living space with others. I know someone who though he has no problem with drugs or alcohol chooses to live in a sober living house where each person pays $60-70 wk. He does this because his temp labor job makes that all he can afford.
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I inhabit a small bedroom in a house and can use the bathroom and have limited kitchen access. I can walk through the hall too. This is standard for the area. I am assuming by “sharing living space” you mean sharing a small bedroom. I don’t think that would work and I would pity my poor roommate.
 
KimberlyCat said:
We cannot discuss homelessness without discussing mental illness. The majority of homeless persons are severely MENTALLY ILL and need daily medication management and supervision. State run mental hospitals were closed in the 1980s and since then only the wealthy can afford long term mental healthcare in private institutions. The others become alcoholics and/or drug addicts. When their families can’t take it anymore they kick them out and they have nowhere to go. 😦

Most mentally ill persons do not realize they are ill, deny their illness, or are too ashamed to get help. The one’s who choose to get help cannot afford it for very long. Most insurance companies do not even offer it because of the outrageous price of psych medication which cost on average $300-$2000 per month. The first psychiatrist office visit is $350 and then $125 per visit for medication management which ranges from every 3 weeks to every 6 months. Who can afford this? What usually happens is the person either quits or gets fired from their job because they are sick. Some eventually get so bad they will check themselves into a private mental hospital (knowing they can’t afford it). They get to stay there for 48-72 hours. They get to see a doctor, get prescriptions filled for 30 days and then they are kicked back out on the street after the 48-72 hours. Thirty days later they come back. It’s a never ending cycle. Mental illness is a chemical imbalance in the brain. It is a disease like cancer or diabetes. It is an outrage that most American’s think the mentally ill are “cowards”, “weak”, “takers” or think “they should just snap out of it”. Unless you have felt the pain and agony you will never understand. :mad:

Ahh…but “America has the greatest healthcare system in the world.” :rolleyes:

I’m through with my rant now. God Bless.
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👍 👍
 
Some statistics taken from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_United_States

39% report some form of mental health problems
Code: 
22% are considered to have serious mental illnesses, or are disabled.

38% have alcohol abuse problems.

26% have other substance abuse problems.

3% report having HIV/AIDS.

26% report acute health problems other than HIV/AIDS such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, or sexually transmitted infections.

46% report chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or cancer.

55% report having no health insurance (compared to 27% of general population).

58% report having trouble getting enough food to eat.
 
in my city we have an outreach program and soup kitchen called Matt Talbot kitchen and outreach services for the working poor, homeless/near homeless. The volunteers are mostly Christians, serving meals to those who need them (lunch and supper). They also have services like helping with life skills, hygiene services , I think laundry, transitional housing…

They had a fundraiser on football game day to raise money (called Huskers helping the Homeless) that raised a lot of money ($40,000+)

mtkserves.org/

peoplescitymission.org/
Homeless shelter, free clinic, etc

So, we’re trying hard in my city.
 
“Are we doing enough as Americans to help end homelessness?”

At what point would the “enough” point be reached? How much would be “enough”? And what about people like Bill Gates who is the second wealthiest man in the world? How much of his income should be “enough”?
 
livingwordunity said:
“Are we doing enough as Americans to help end homelessness?”

At what point would the “enough” point be reached? How much would be “enough”? And what about people like Bill Gates who is the second wealthiest man in the world? How much of his income should be “enough”?
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for me ‘enough’ would be the elimination of homelessness.
 
The biggest issue seems to be mental health. Basically, we need to reopen asylums. Improving the economy would help more people than anything else. The government could certainly make things easier by getting out of the way, to say nothing of stop trampling on our First Amendment rights for odious causes such as contraception and abortion (in hospitals/medicine, especially), but also charity in general.
 
Regarding mental illness: We need, I think, to take a nuanced approach. The twin prongs we’re balancing are getting people the help they need and not restricting people’s freedom unnecessarily. I remember for myself putting off getting help because I’d had doctors basically use the asylum as a threat. I was competent to make medical decisions, but I feared saying “can we try a different treatment” might get me committed (it had gotten my parents called on me as an adult before).

Honestly, though, given our system? It’s hard even for people who want help to get treatment. We have many cases of people being turned away for not being sick enough, and many more of people being dumped out after just enough treatment to get them not suicidal for 2 days.
 
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