History+of+the+Homeless

**__~History of the homeless~__ **

http://www.philanthromedia.org/archives/Homeless-Streets.jpg

__**The Meaning of being Homeless**__
 * Homelessness has several different meanings, but the most common one is a person or family that does not have a house to live in. When this happens they resort to living in places that are not meant to be lived in and can be dangerous to live in.
 * Homelessness has been rising in the United states for over a decade, but it became note-able in the 1980's.
 * During __the Great Depression__ of the 1930's refugees thought of themselves as homeless because they didnt have a place to live or to come back to.

__**Sterotyping the homeless**__
 * Many people sterotype homeless people as single gruby men who stand on the side of the street, but roughly a third of the homeless population is families.
 * The United States is the only country that attempts to keep track of the homeless people.
 * We also sterotype them as being reckless and not caring about their lives and their health.
 * When we see homeless people on the side of the street what do you think of? Most people think they are druggies and are only begging for money to buy more drugs, some of them do that but most of them we don't see. Some homeless people pass by us and look like everyday people and don't try to call attention to themselves.

__**Homelessness Statistics**__
 * Statistics on homelessness are based on counts of people living in shelters. Recent statistics show that most homeless people in the United States are single men, followed by families with children, then single women.
 * The number of people who are homeless can vary from day to day.
 * If you ask how many adults are homeless in the United States on a particular night, the answer is probably about 300,000.
 * However, the number of adults who are homeless at some time during an entire year is closer to 1 million. This includes about 200,000 children.
 * Approximately half of all homeless adults suffer from a serious mental illness or are addicted to alcohol or other drugs. Often, these conditions make it impossible for them to work.
 * In 2000, it was estimated that over 3.50 million people where without a home, 1.35 million of that is children.
 * Did you know that 10 percent of our population is homeless veterans?

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/homelessness-chart.jpg

__**Why people become homeless**__
 * People can become homeless due to natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, or earthquakes.
 * According to a survey the top causes of being homeless is mental health issues and substance abuse, Lack of affordable housing, poverty, and domestic violence were common causes of homelessness among children.
 * Addiction to alcohol and drugs can cause people to become homeless because they are likely to lose their jobs because of their addictions.
 * Hurricane Katrina left thousands homeless after it hit. The damage was to much for them to fix so some had to move into homeless shelters.

__**Who is homeless**__
 * The nation's homeless population is at 50 percent African American, 12 percent Latino, 2 percent Native American and 1 percent Asian American.
 * A 1995 U.S department of agriculture survey found homeless people in rural areas to most likely be white, female, married, and currently working. They were mostly homeless for the first time. Families, single mothers, and children make up the largest group of the rural homeless. 20 percent of the homeless hold down regular jobs, and 40 percent are families with children.

__**About the homeless shelters**__
 * Sometimes when children live in homeless shelters for a long time they develop respritory and intestinal infections
 * 86 percent of families get turned away from shelters because they are to full. Its not that the shelters are picky its just they are already filled to the brim.
 * In the past year, emergency shelter requests have gone up 15% for families.

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/marqu154/architecture/01-19-07-HomelessShelter2.jpg

__**Youth Homelessness**__
 * More than 1,000,000 children are homeless in the United States, its not that they chose or even want to homeless its just their idea of a better life.
 * Youth Homelessness is overlooked in the U.S, meaning we don't believe that children and teens are homeless and have nowhere to go.
 * Children become homeless over poverty in their families, unemployment of family members, abuse within the family and mental health issues.
 * These children that are homeless did not choose to live on the streets, the truth is that they feel safer on the streets than at home, which is shocking to us because none of us would chose to live on the street.

__**Worked Cited~**__ 
 * Jewel. "Street life is no life for children.(homeless children)." USA Today (Magazine). 136. 2750 (Nov 2007): 56(3). Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. WCPS/Green Hope High School. 18 Nov. 2009 <http://find.galenet.com
 * Homelessness: a solvable problem.(Editorial)." America. 196. 8 (March 5, 2007): 5(1). Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. WCPS/Green Hope High School. 18 Nov. 2009 <http://find.galenet.com
 * "homelessness." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2009. Grolier Online. 18 Nov. 2009 .