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Khushi Shah

Professor Papccio

English 1201

10 October 2019

Homelessness in the World

Going home at the end of a hard day is not something everybody has the luxury of doing.

Some people are not fortunate to have a place to call home. Homeless people for example does

not have a place to go rest and sleep. The poverty rate has been increasing in many parts of the

world. However, it fell to the lowest level in almost two decades. For example, there are certain

places in the world like Los Angeles, that people do not have the necessities they need in life:

shelter, food and a family. Many people are alone and are suffering on the streets because they

do not have some of the things that people who own homes have. During the winter it gets worse

because there is nothing that keeps the people on the streets warm besides some old blankets.

Also, in the summer there is no cold air for the poor. The closest thing they have to something

cold is an iced water bottle. In the article, “Homelessness is reaching an emergency level in Los

Angeles” by Mark Ridley- Thomas talks about the increasing poverty rate and is optimistic about

the future of homelessness.

The article, "Homelessness is reaching an emergency level in Los Angeles,” by Mark

Ridley- Thomas, talks about how Los Angeles has a high rate of homeless people. This year

there are over 58,900 people experiencing homelessness. Most of them consist of families that

are sleeping in places that are not suitable for shelter. Last year, “918 people died on the street”

(Thomas) and the number is increasing. This problem is not only present in Los Angeles; it is an
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issue in almost all major cities in the nation. More and more people do not have homes because

of the economy and the rising unemployment rate. With the help of Measure H and other

programs, homelessness is something that the government of Los Angeles is trying to decrease.

Measure H will be able to provide housing subsidies and build a shelter. Mark- Ridley Thomas is

optimistic about the future of homeless people (Thomas). In Los Angeles, people have plans for

this upcoming problem. For example, they have set up meetings to develop strategies that will

get people off the streets and into a household. The article states, “We recently had our first

meeting, with the second scheduled for next week, to assuredly do our part to develop statewide

strategies that will get people off the streets and housed, returning to them a measure of dignity

and worth in the face of hard times” (Thomas). If the government continues to have these

meetings about the poor people and lack of shelter, then there will be a drastic change.

Furthermore, the amount of people that are on the streets keeps on increasing daily. The reason

for that is the high rent, still wages and a huge amount of unaffordable housing for instance. The

Los Angeles service team helps a lot of people find houses, but more and more people become

homeless at the same time. The article states, “It is a frightening illustration of the challenges we

face that many from afar may not easily comprehend -- for every 133 people our service

providers house every day, 150 more people become newly homeless.” (Thomas). The number

of homeless people should be decreasing if people are helping the poor find shelters. (Thomas)

The issue about homelessness must be fixed. Not only would it save the people on the

streets, but it would benefit the world because it would be decreasing the number of homeless

people that are suffering. Mark Ridley-Thomas talked about an article talking about

homelessness in Los Angeles and how the rate has increased for poor people. There are multiple
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acts that have been created for this reason and they should be used for a common purpose like

this.

The author has a connection with the government, and they talk about the situation that is

going on in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and

he noticed what is going on with the crisis of homeless people. Therefore, he proposes strategies

to fix this problem. However, Mark Ridley-Thomas’s article includes very little information

about him being involved with the government. He only states it in a form of one sentence

throughout the article, but the author does mention detailed information on how to get the

problem resolved. He collects researched evidence such as statistics on the amount of Angelenos

that are currently homeless.

People need to consider waiving the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)

requirements for all homeless housing projects. This act requires state and local agencies to

analyze significant environmental impacts of their projects, but has been used too readily to stop

projects for reasons that have nothing to do with environmental protection. People must identify

federal, state and local properties for safe sleeping and interim shelter. People need to preserve

existing rent controls that prevent rent increases beyond 3-5% per year, and do what is necessary

to avoid evictions without just cause. Even though Thomas sees this as a big issue, others may

not and are more concerned about the other factors. There is an act CEQA, people that support

that act will impact the others that don’t. For example, if someone is opposed to this issue and if

a large group of concerned citizens post about it on social media or the local news channel, that

person who is opposed to this will no longer be. As a result, the citizens will be pleased, and this

issue will be known to everyone.

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Thomas is trying to raise awareness about homelessness and that people should support

acts that would help homeless people such as Measure H and not support acts like CEQA.

Measure H improves the lives of people living a hard life in the local area. For example, the issue

of homelessness. The CEQA tells people to identify the important environmental impacts of the

citizen’s actions. This does not focus on the concept of homelessness, whereas Measure H does.
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Works Cited

Ridley-Thomas, Opinion by Mark. “Homelessness Is Reaching an Emergency Level in Los

Angeles.” CNN, Cable News Network, 18 Sept. 2019,
www.cnn.com/2019/09/18/opinions/homeless-la-state-of-emergency-ridley-
thomas/index.html.