Homeless in America

It is a common perception that United States of America is the land of opportunities, a developed nation and therefore poverty is not a concern in this hugely successful country.

The assumption could not be further away from reality. In every country a segment of population is deprived and poor and U.S is no exception. Though there always existed a small segment of homeless people the 1980s (debt due to vietnam war and increasing oil prices led to "stagfltion" - inflation while the economy was still stagnant) saw a surge in homelessness. Today on any given night approximately 750,000 men, women and children are homeless in U.S. The present economic downturn has further aggravated the situation and numbers.

The two main causes of homelessness are unemployment and unaffordable housing. Even if employed, as soon as debt increases to a level where the individual is unable to payoff, homelessness becomes a very real threat and once homeless, it is difficult to maintain a job! On the other hand if homelessness occurs due to unemployment, the day to day practical difficulties of being homeless make it near to impossible to get a job! The homeless individual soon finds himself caught in a vicious cycle that he is unable to break.

The Federal Government, State Governments and several NPOs have come together to help solve the problem of homelessness. Most plans to end homelessness involve following measures:

1) Creating Data Systems
2) Emergency Homeless Prevention Programs that include rent, mortgage and utility assistance; case management and landlord or lender intervention.
3) Building Low cost housing and
4) Transitional housing systems.

While many NPOs and agencies work in this field, one of the notable agnecies is the "National Alliance to End Homelessness" (NAEH). To know more about NAEH please visit their website

http://www.endhomelessness.org/

Note:

The video has been prepared by Richa Vyas and Eric Givens of the Carolina School of Broadcasting. It deals with the struggles of the homeless in the Charlotte region (only).

Information in this post has been take from online resource materials provided by NAEH.