HOMELESSNESS

SF
by Shanti Franklin5 views·Updated Apr 27, 2023
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  1. My name is Deshante Franklin and this is my final project based on homelessness.
  2. I will be focusing on the definition, the different types as well as some causes.
  3. Homelessness simply put is the state of having no home.
  4. There are four types of homelessness,
  5. transitional homelessness,
  6. which is homelessness that occurs because of
  7. a major life change or catastrophic event.
  8. Next is episodic homelessness,
  9. which is for people who have experienced homelessness
  10. at least three times within 12 months,
  11. usually are people who struggle with substance abuse, mental illness and such
  12. chronic homelessness are for people who have been homeless for over a year.
  13. They are usually older people and make up 17% of the homeless population.
  14. Same thing with episodic with it being people
  15. who struggle with addiction or have disabilities.
  16. Hidden homelessness refers to those who are hard to find statistics
  17. on because they are often staying with a friend or family member
  18. or neighbor, which is often temporary
  19. and it mostly consists of young people.
  20. Relative,
  21. homelessness is defined as people living in spaces that
  22. do not meet the basic health and safety needs.
  23. So they technically have a home but
  24. it's
  25. not good enough typically happens due to low wages, job loss or high housing costs.
  26. The graph shows the homeless who stay in shelter situations.
  27. From 2012 to 2016, there was a decline but as the years went on,
  28. it started to increase.
  29. Once more,
  30. absolute homelessness is used to describe individuals on the
  31. street with no physical shelter of their own,
  32. including those who spend their nights in emergency shelters.
  33. The graph on this slide focuses on
  34. homelessness by household type and sheltered status.
  35. In 2022.
  36. You can see that unsheltered individuals who aren't in families are a majority
  37. of the homeless and that unsheltered homeless and families are a mere 50%.
  38. Socioeconomic factors refers to the social and economic
  39. factors that influence the well-being of individuals,
  40. families and communities,
  41. they can impact access to resources, opportunities and quality of life.
  42. So the first socioeconomic factor is the lack of affordable housing.
  43. Lack of affordable housing is one of the main causes of homelessness.
  44. Uh The graph basically shows that as rent got higher,
  45. the amount of homelessness increased.
  46. Next is unemployment,
  47. unemployment can cause stress,
  48. anxiety and depression and lead people to have a low self esteem and lack of purpose.
  49. And because of those feelings,
  50. most will turn
  51. to drugs or alcohol to cope.
  52. And seeing as they have more time on their hands, it'll become an addiction.
  53. Hm,
  54. obviously losing your source of income would make it difficult to keep your home.
  55. And one would have to choose between their basic needs or their shelter.
  56. And lastly low wages,
  57. even with being employed,
  58. it can be hard to afford things like rent and basic needs when you aren't being paid.
  59. Now,
  60. working poor refers to people who have a job but are below the poverty line.
  61. They are typically working minimum wage jobs.
  62. Some say that the minimum wage is a poverty wage, which is true.
  63. No one will be able to afford basic needs
  64. and have savings while only making minimum wage,
  65. a living wage is needed to be able to afford the basic needs.
  66. Plus being paid a living wage would solve many problems
  67. as it works for everyone.
  68. Next, I will talk about conflict theory
  69. and homelessness
  70. concept theory is a sociological perspective that emphasizes the
  71. role of power when it comes to social relations,
  72. like the unequal distribution of resources and opportunities,
  73. economic policies decide the availability or resources
  74. and opportunities for people like policies that increase
  75. income inequality or reduce access to affordable health
  76. care or prioritize corporations over low income,
  77. individuals and families.
  78. The homeless often face stigma and discrimination from society.
  79. They are often seen as irresponsible pests.
  80. And
  81. so when they are viewed
  82. negatively, it makes it harder for them to come across opportunities and resources
  83. like it makes people less likely to want to hire them
  84. or like take care of them
  85. societal norms, influence how policymakers react to homelessness
  86. by that. I mean, they will be less likely to want to help them.
  87. Speaking of policymakers,
  88. when they mainly focus on the needs of both the corporate people,
  89. they don't prioritize prioritize policies for low income
  90. people who are more likely to experience homelessness.
  91. In addition,
  92. policymakers can criminalize homelessness with laws that prohibit them
  93. from doing things like sleeping in public or panhandling,
  94. which are things homeless people do all the time
  95. gain mass incarceration and homelessness.
  96. When people are incarcerated, they often lose their jobs in housing.
  97. When they are released into the world. It can be hard to get back on their feet.
  98. Incarcerated.
  99. People likely have underlying addiction and mental health issues
  100. which can worsen upon release with no support.
  101. This,
  102. this can contribute to a cycle of poverty
  103. and homelessness that is difficult to break.
  104. Um So I had the opportunity to
  105. interview
  106. um
  107. a man who is homeless who frequents my store
  108. and this is how it went.
  109. So Ronnie is 64 years old. Born in 1959
  110. he has been homeless for two years and three months,
  111. meaning he would fall under chronic homelessness
  112. at the age of 18.
  113. He got into a scooter accident and had to have
  114. surgery on his knee that left him with no kneecap.
  115. So like now he walks with like a walker.
  116. Um So after leaving the hospital,
  117. he got into drugs and said that he used it for the pain
  118. instead of going to the hospital,
  119. which is something
  120. I'm guessing a lot of people would do because
  121. hospital bills aren't cheap.
  122. So,
  123. yeah.
  124. Um,
  125. oh, the drugs he ended up uh, taking or
  126. having was uh crack cocaine.
  127. Um,
  128. he did say he ended up having an addiction to it.
  129. Um, so yeah,
  130. he ended up getting arrested for possession and got a 20 year sentence
  131. which he ended up only doing a 12 for,
  132. because they sent him up to Georgia
  133. um, for the 12 years. And then
  134. I suppose,
  135. I think he said they wanted to send him back to Florida,
  136. but they ended up just letting him like, go free instead.
  137. And so when he got out of prison,
  138. um, he went to rehab
  139. for, he said he lied in order to
  140. like, get out
  141. of rehab.
  142. He says now that he hasn't,
  143. um,
  144. like he's been clean from cracking cocaine for like over a year,
  145. but he still
  146. likes to drink and that he spends his money
  147. that he's gotten from panhandling
  148. on
  149. alcohol mostly.
  150. So, yeah,
  151. that's the end of my presentation.
  152. Thank you.