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Hunter Poole
Jeffrey Peake
Honors English III
March 24, 2010
Is money given directly to homeless people truly benefiting their efforts to get off the street?
In today’s society it is hard to ignore the presence of homeless people on street corners, walking through town, or begging at intersections .
The sight of their hardships evokes an emotional response in many people who would like to help them .
People try to help people when they are in such situations .
Although many people gladly hand over offerings to the humble beggars, others are skeptical of their innocence .
Speculation on how the homeless will spend money deters these skeptics who believe there are better ways to help the homeless .
It is also argued that the homeless do not deserve handouts because it is their own fault they are without a home .
While small handouts and donations can temporarily benefit homeless persons, they are not an effective way to help homeless people to reintegrate back into a normal life .
The problem of homelessness can be seen from almost anywhere in the United States, but a majority of people often know little about these homeless people .
Generally, homelessness is defined as “the lack of a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence” and people who are chronically homeless experience these conditions for an extended period of time .
This type of person accounts for about 23% of the homeless population (“Facts and Figures”) .
The true statistic of the amount of homeless people in the United States is hard to calculate because it

varies depending on the method used .
However, a study by the National Law Center on
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Homelessness and Poverty estimated between 2.3 and 3.5 million people experienced homelessness in the United States (“Facts and Figures”) .
For the most part, homelessness is an urban phenomenon .
Urban population accounts for 71% of the homeless population (“Facts and
Figures”) .
non-Hispanic whites
African Americans
Hispanics
Native-Americans
Asians
It is not hard to see that homelessness is becoming a bigger and bigger problem for the country .
Trends show that homelessness has been going up for quite a long time .
In the past couple of years, there have been major jumps in homelessness in 19 out of 25 major cities .
Since 2007, cities have reported a 12% rise in homelessness on average (“Facts and Figures”) .
Many help programs have cited an increase in the number of applicants, and most have to be turned away from programs because there is no room (Cunningham) .
It is quite obvious that homelessness and poverty are strongly linked .
The current recession will force 1.5 million more people into poverty and possible homelessness (“Facts and Figures”) .
Society does a rinky-dink job at addressing the issues of homelessness .
People should support the homeless because it is ethical and they are a product of society and the economy .
Many working people would like to see the

Poole 3 homeless gone, but aren’t willing to do anything about it (Cunningham) .
There is a stereotypical view of homeless people as being dishonest, dependent on drugs, and lazy, and that they should not be taken seriously because there truly are people out there trying to help themselves
(National Coalition for the Homeless). Society tends to generalize this view to justify not addressing the issues .
For the United States to portray itself as an ethically sound country, homelessness cannot keep going ignored .
There are multiple causes for homelessness, varying from situation to situation .
The connection between homelessness and the economy can be seen in housing, wages, and affordability .
The availability of affordable rental housing along with an increase in poverty has increased homelessness over the past 20-25 years (National Coalition for the Homeless) .
7 million households living on low income are at a risk of foreclosure .
The recent 32% jump in foreclosures has also been a factor in the housing sector that has left many more people facing possible homelessness (National Coalition for the Homeless) .
Federal support for low-income housing assistance has dropped almost 50% from 1980 to 2003 .
Renting is usually the only viable housing option for low-income people; however, about 200,000 rental housing units are destroyed annually (National Coalition for the Homeless) .
Another reason that people find it difficult to maintain stable housing is the declining wages of low-income jobs .
Income of lowincome families has continued to decrease while rent is increasing .
The real value of the minimum wage in 2004 was 26% less than in 1979 (Stambler) .
For these reasons, declining wages have put housing out of reach from many workers .
There is a growing population of employed homeless in many cities, which means even those fortunate enough to have a job

Poole 4 cannot make ends meet in the housing market (Stambler) .
Factors such as housing and wages are out of the control of the homeless to decide, and they are giving them a disadvantage in a country where the cost of living is going up .
Among other causes, personal problems such as mental illness, drug abuse, and unemployment are also factors that contribute to homelessness .
Substance abuse is responsible for 68% of homeless cases, making it the single largest cause of homelessness for single adults .
Substance abuse is so common among the homeless, it is accepted as normal (National Coalition for the Homeless) .
The United States Conference of Mayors reported that, to combat homelessness, more substance abuse rehabilitation programs would be needed (National
Coalition for the Homeless) .
Substance abuse often goes untreated among low-income populations because of its high cost and lack of insurance .
For many homeless people, substance abuse and mental illness are both present .
People with untreated mental illness often turn to street drugs for treatment (National Coalition for the Homeless) .
Approximately 16% of the adult single homeless population suffers from some sort of severe and persistent mental illness
(National Coalition for the Homeless) .
Another problem with homeless people is unemployment .
Only 13% of single homeless adults are employed and only 17% of homeless adults in families were employed .
It is hard for homeless people even with work, to keep stable housing .
More homeless people than ever are working (National Coalition for the Homeless) .
It is much harder than many people think for homeless people to obtain work or keep it if they already have .
More programs to offer homeless people work are needed to help homeless people maintain employment .

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Help for the homeless come in many different forms .
Sometimes it comes in the form of monetary donations, and sometimes by volunteering, and sometimes through government programs .
Based on a survey, the single most important things that homeless people needed were: help finding a job, finding affordable housing, assistance with paying rent, job training, medical care (“Should You Give”). A relatively small percentage of homeless people receive government assistance .
Over 40% of the homeless are eligible, but only 11% receive aid .
Until its repeal, the largest cash assistance program for poor families was Aid to Families with
Dependent Children (Light the Way) .
Most government programs to help the homeless are ineffective at helping the homeless get off the streets .
Programs that are currently used to help the homeless do not do their job well for several reasons .
People who lose their home often become adjusted to the homeless lifestyle, and it is hard to help people who do not want to change .
One of the biggest factors that keep people on the streets is drug abuse .
Programs that lack a good drug rehabilitation factor often fail in keeping people on a good track (Burt) .
Most of the money given to panhandlers does not go toward housing or meals, but instead it goes to feeding drug addictions .
Panhandlers are commonly people who are not trying to turn their problem of homelessness around
(Cunningham) .
Many sources of help only target those who are already homeless instead of including and aspect of prevention .
This allows more people to fall into homelessness (Burt) .
Housing programs and supportive services are not used in sync to balance the need of rehabilitation and affordable housing (Burt) .
These flaws in the system can be fixed and the system of helping homeless people will be highly more effective .

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Effective programs to help the homeless become reintegrated into adequate conditions have certain characteristics .
The availability of affordable housing is a major component of keeping people housed .
A national strategy of affordable housing projects and communitybuilding is needed to prevent homelessness (Burt) .
Only policies that expand the availability of affordable housing to people with below-poverty line incomes will ensure stable housing (Burt) .
In addition to stable housing, effective programs include job opportunities .
These job opportunities often come in the form of “spot work .
” Spot work is small jobs that can be signed up for and be done (Cunningham) .
It is also important to provide education and job training opportunities .
It is better to give money to programs that help the homeless through these types of processes than give money directly to homeless people (Cunningham) .
Giving money directly to homeless people will not help them get off the streets and start becoming a housed citizen .
Money is better used when given to programs that include finding secure income, affordable housing, and rehabilitation for substance abusers .
Also, more government policies could be established to help the cause of the homeless by securing affordable housing and offering better healthcare and welfare income to everyone who needs it .
When giving money to a homeless person, there is also the risk of them wasting your welfare on drugs and other undesirable things .
Almost everyone hates seeing a person on the streets without a roof over their head, and it is time that the country learns how to deal with such a social flaw .
It would be in the best interest of everyone to help out those living on the street .
The amount of what could be done compared to what is being done is atrocious .
If the United States sought the

betterment of homeless people, it would be seen as moral and more ethically sound than it
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The problem is that society is too distracted with other things that are simply less important .
American politician Dennis Kucinich addressed society with this saying, “We have weapons of mass destruction we have to address here at home. Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction . Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction .
Unemployment is a weapon of mass destruction .
”
Works Cited
“Should You Give Money to a Homeless Person?” Redeeming Riches Online. Redeeming
Riches. Web. 8 March 2012.
Cunningham, Phil. Personal Interview. 14 March 2012.
“Why Are People Homeless?” National Coalition for the Homeless. National Coalition for the
Homeless. July 2009. Web. 7 March 2012.
“Facts and Figures: The Homeless.”
Now on PBS.
PBS. 26 June 2009. Web. 6 March 2012.
“Myths About Homelessness.”
Light the Way . Midlands Interfaith Homelessness Action
Council. Web. 7 March 2012.
Burt, Martha R. “What Will it Take to End Homelessness?” Urban Institute Online. Urban
Institute. September 2001 Web. 9 March 2012.
Stambler, Douglas. How to Stop Homelessness in Your American City . California: Angel Fire
Inc. 2008.