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Dannon Roberts
November 17th, 2016
Mr. Mills
AP English

The Homeless Are Not The Heartless

In a nation like the United States of America, homelessness is more than just poverty,
mismanagement in housing programs, deinstitutionalization of mentally ill people,
addicts, and derelicts. Many of these people cannot help or control the situation they
are in. The homeless situation was brought upon them in a series of unfortunate and/or
tragic events. Poverty is the fundamental reason for the circumstantial homelessness
from the subjective and the objective viewpoint; there are certain homelessness causes
that reflect flawed planning in the system more than the lack of financial resources. In
contrast, the recession and inhabitants of illegal immigrants has had a major effect on
the rising homelessness population. (Down and out in America, Book)

When passed in 1987, the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act became a
landmark legislation providing the first federal funds targeted specifically to address the
needs of homeless persons. The McKinney Act originally consisted of fifteen programs
providing a range of services to homeless people, including emergency shelter,
transitional housing, primary health care, education, and some social service needs. By
1998, approximately one decade after the McKinney funds became available and
research results on the impacts of funding were becoming available, it was appropriate
to address the question of: What honestly works? Every night in America there are
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between 700,000 to 2, 000,000 homeless people staying on the streets. In the city of
Asheville alone there are from 400 to 700 people that spend each night homeless. This
population is being unjustly stereotyped everyday as drunk, lazy, beggars, and/or bums.
This is not always the case. In fact, making poor decisions are usually not the cause of
people ending up homeless. Many homeless people have been consistently underpaid
or cut from their jobs and they have not been able to replace these jobs with new ones
despite their commitment and effort.

In most cases the root cause is not directly

their fault. Forty four percent of the homeless population are single men. These men are
possibly in this dilemma because of their inability to find a job despite their valiant
efforts. Single women make up thirteen percent of this population. Several of these
women have lost their spouse or significant other. Families with children account for 36
percent of the homeless population. The majority of these people are no longer able to
support themselves due to the recession and loss of jobs. Twenty nine percent of
homeless people have been sexually and /or physically assaulted. Almost forty percent
have been robbed and thirty percent have been chronically homeless for over two
years. (Homelessness)

There are people who believe that the homeless are all evil, dangerous people who are
in the place they are because of criminal activity, laziness, or perhaps a drug addiction.
Of course that might be the case for some of these people, but to believe they are all
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evil or bad people is completely and utterly asinine. In many cases, drug abuse is a
direct result of homelessness, not vice versa. Some of these homeless are in their
current situation because of tragic events that have happened to them, being kicked out
by their family, or perhaps getting laid off and losing their home. Society shouldnt
automatically judge these people without knowing them simply based off of if they
currently have a home or not.

The recession has played a significant role in the steadily increasing population of
homeless americans. However, there are some other major factors to consider. The
Western Carolina Rescue Ministry is overflowing everyday. Recently they were unable
to move into a larger and more modern building due to the recession. Meanwhile the
normal average of one hundred eighty clients has more than doubled to 410 per month.
It is especially difficult for the ministry to get things accomplished because they do not

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receive any federal funding. (Mentor Vic Howard, former Head of the Western Carolina
Rescue Ministry)
Homeless people reflect the diversity of our nation and their sometimes complex
characteristics and needs. These differences must be identified, respected, and
addressed. Despite their diversity, almost all homeless people are extremely poor.
Regardless of their other difficulties practitioners must address their basic needs for
material resources. In addition to responding to basic needs for shelter, food, and
clothing.and medical care.
Programs should begin with a systematic assessment of the unique needs of each
homeless person, Homeless persons include families with children, single people,
veterans, runaway youth, mental health clients, substance abuse clients and those who
are homeless for economic reasons. Each group has distinct characteristics, needs,
and preferences that should be considered when designing programs. Some homeless
persons will require limited assistance, while others will require extensive and long term
support. Over time each person's needs will change and so should the necessary
assistance. Homeless programs can help homeless persons to restore , recover from
illness, address disabilities, develop life and economic skills, and attain maximum self
sufficiency. Achievement of these objectives requires a partnership of individual effort
and tailored assistance by the homeless
service provider. Each community must collect its own data on the needs of the
homeless. The numbers and characteristics of homeless people will vary by community

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and will change over time based on regional economic conditions and policies. Health
care programs, which make special adaptations to the structure and delivery of health,
both physical and mental, and substance abuse services, will be more effective at
serving homeless people. Some delivery adaptations should include extensive
outreach, mobile sites, and procedural flexibility. (Mentor Vic Howard) Integration of
primary care, mental health, and substance abuse services is the preferred approach
for providing services are effective in engaging those who are not served by existing
agencies and those who unable or unwilling to seek services on their own.

The employment of formerly homeless people as outreach workers is an effective

engagement strategy. The most effective case management strategies for homeless
persons are conducting assertive, community-based outreach; giving priority to clients
self-determined needs; providing clients with active assistance to obtain needed
resources; maintaining small case loads; and using an assertive community treatment
(ACT) approach.

Receipt of affordable housing is the single greatest predictor of formerly homeless

persons ability to remain in housing. Homeless people, who receive subsidized

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housing, will, for the most part, remain in that housing. To afford private-marketunsubsidized housing, they will require increased incolome and

employment assistance. There is a large unmet need for affordable housing for
homeless and very low-income Americans . Intensive supportive service, especially for
homeless people with significant disabilities are also greatly needed. Consumer choice
in housing is associated with residential stability for formerly homeless people. Thus,
communities may need to offer a range of living options with different degrees of social
control and expectations for behavior. In many places, emergency shelter has been
expanded from three hots and a cot to include client assessment, case management,
and supportive services. The focus has been shifted from shelter only to a reintegration
into the community. Descriptive data from national surveys of transitional housing find
that about seventy percent of those who completed transitional housing programs
obtained housing. Despite the strong commitment of many to transitional housing, welldesigned studies of its long-term effectiveness are almost non-existent. Providers are
encouraged to experiment with new models of transitional housing that are co-located
with or convert to permanent housing. This may provide a way to help individuals and
families transition out of homelessness without the stigma and the repeated disruption
of support networks that some transitional housing approaches entail.

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Services integration (client-level strategies) and systems integration (administrativelevel strategies) must be undertaken at the same time in order for either
to be effective. Systems integration must be pursued at the federal, state, and local
levels. Three strategies are necessary for systems integration, getting the key players

and decision-makers to the table, and using a formal strategic planning process.
Programs for homeless people are only effective if the system includes adequate
affordable permanent housing and supportive community-based services. The client
information system should contain information on client needs, services, and outcomes.
Individual client-data must be kept confidential to protect privacy. Homeless programs
must improve their ability to demonstrate accountability by documenting all outcomes
(www.hud.gov)

Homeless and formerly homeless people can contribute in many ways to the planning
and implementation of programs and policies designed to help them. Consumer input in
research studies and program evaluations also greatly enhances the design, conduct,
and interpretation of results. A great deal can be learned about a programs
effectiveness by asking homeless people, formerly homeless people, and practitioners
about what works, what doesnt work, and why it may or may not work. Also, a lot can
be learned just by asking a homeless person their story and what they have been
through. Working with Mentor Vic Howard and all of the other wonderful people at the
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Western Carolina Rescue Ministry has provided so many great and interesting stories.
Some of these stories were gathered by just sitting down and actually talking to these
homeless people. It is truly impossible to explain how Down-To-Earth and strong, both

mentally and spiritually, these people are. One can not even fathom how these
individuals are having to go through these travesties and to still be such a sweet and
loving person. Some of the ideas that were shared by them were incredibly ingenious
and had the potential to be ground-breaking in helping of the main issues involving
homelessness and poverty all over the country. This experience with those people was
incredibly eye-opening and humbling. To hear how some people had it all, or so they
thought, only to have it come crashing down really put things into perspective.

It has been a little over a decade since the U.S. Federal Government convened the first
National Symposium on Homelessness Research. That effort resulted in Practical
Lessons, which synthesized the lessons and implications of homelessness research as
of 1998. This proved extremely useful for both informing practice and for setting
directions for future research.

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Homelessness is a big deal in American Society and is an issue that should be taken
care of very swiftly and urgently. Too many people are suffering from this cause and too
many people are not recovering. Homelessness should have more attention being paid
to it because it has a lot of influence on the rest of the nation in many different ways.

One might believe that if the nation came together and all just sprinkled a little support
for these people, that there might be a drastic change for the better. For now, all these
people can do is make the best of what cards they have been dealt and pray that one
day they will be able to escape the ever trapping prison known as homelessness.
All of these points are used to argue that just because a person is homeless, does not
mean they are a bad person. Until that is clear to everyone, the homeless will still be
stereotyped as something they might be the complete opposite of how the individual
truly is. The main goal is to show that the they arent all bad people, that the homeless
arent the heartless.

Works Cited

Encyclopedia of homelessness. Thousand oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, 2004.

Print.
"Homeless Assistance/U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

(HUD)."Homeless Assistance/U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

(HUD). N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

U.S.

"Women in Poverty: Family Composition of Household." Cdn.americanprogress.org.

Census Bureau, 2008. Web. 17 Nov. 2016
"Homelessness." Policyalmanac.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.
Howard, Vic. Personal Interview. October 12th, 2016.
Rossi, Peter H. Down and Out in America The Origins of Homelessness. New

York:
University of Chicago, 1991. Print.

Dannon Roberts
November 17th, 2016
Mr. Mills
AP English

Outline
Thesis: There are many different factors contributing to the growing homeless
population.

Introduction.
Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act
Homeless arent all bad people
Not always because of drugs
Potentially because of family/Loss of job
The Recession
Subsidized Housing
There are many different factors when it comes to homelessness. If
society came together and helped fix the broken systems, this great nation would
be one step closer to eliminating homelessness all together.