Should Certain Aspects of

Homelessness be Criminalized?
Graduation Project By Cordareus Ellison
If you wait until you can do everything for everybody instead of something for
somebody you'll end up doing nothing.

ock tv

Government alone cannot solve the problems we deal with in our correctional facilities,
treatment centers, homeless shelters and crisis centers-we need our faith-based and

community partners.

Kempthorne
Tell me how do you feel and what do you see ?
Background of me and how it relates to my topic
Hi my name is Cordareus Ellison many of you know me as kori I'm 18 years old
and I already feel like I've lived way beyond my time.My life hasn't been a walk in
the park many times I would have to live with family friends or close relatives
because of decisions i made or my family.I have been at the lowest there could be
,so I know how hard it is.Being homeless is hard enough,not all the time when
people are homeless are because of their actions. People are going to do what
they have to to survive and asking for money or just simply doing what u have to
shouldn't be a crime we should just help these people that are in need
What is homelessness

Homelessness means the state of having no home. This could mean

if you stay with family members or friends you are considered
homeless
Why is my Topic Important?
My topic is important because you can become homeless at any time and
homeless is all around you no matter where you go there is poverty and someone
in need and i feel like instead of trying to fix the solution by throwing people in jain
we should come together and help
 Brief History
Homelessness has been around for ages and certain laws was put in place for homeless people. In 1729,

Philadelphia passes a law allowing local authorities to deport poor immigrants who cannot

support themselves(ProQuest Staff). This was america's first attempt to criminalize homeless people or

seeing this a way to deal with homelessness. 272 years later in 2001 The American Civil Liberties Union

reaches an agreement with the Los Angeles Police Department over the department's treatment of the

homeless. Police agree not to stop homeless people without probable cause, or to force them to move when

they are merely standing on the sidewalk(ProQuest Staff). Before homeless people were harassed but police

are trying to fall back from interfering with the homeless people if they are not causing any trouble.
 The information in the last slide it shows how much we started

progress to only to start moving backwards.Just stop and think

should we really criminalize people for being homeless or not

having what other people have.

Panhandling Should Not be a Crime

In fact, 94 percent used the funds they raised for food.It's shocking to also know that out of all the homeless

people it's the 6% that is making it harder for other homeless people.The 6% of the homeless people are the ones

who do the drugs and use the money that they get for other things.

There will always be people who try to take advantage of others and panhandling is no different. The

problem is that an uncaring attitude toward all panhandlers because of the actions of a few creates future problems

that will ultimately create even more panhandlers. When more than 60% of panhandlers make less than $25 per day

and when more than 60% of them are disabled in some way, that is not a life that anyone would wish on their

greatest enemy
Sometimes Homelessness Is Not A Direct Result
Of A Person's Action

A study by the Institute for Children and Poverty finds that 37% of homeless families

had their welfare benefits reduced in the last year. Of those, 20% became homeless as a

direct result of the cuts(ProQuest Staff). This means if these families have kids the kids

are affected to.In 2002 Studies show that children and families are the largest growing

segment of the homeless in America

Homeless people do what they have to do live

Hidden Homelessness, a survey of more than 400 rough sleepers by Sheffield Hallam

University, reveals the desperate steps taken by the homeless to find shelter. When you

think of rough sleepers what do you think of? What comes to mind? Rough sleepers are

women who take an unwanted sex partner to spend the night in jail, basically they

prostitute themselves to have a warm place to sleep. .A fifth of homeless people have

committed "imprisonable offences" to spend a night incells and more than a quarter of

women rough sleepers took an

Topic selection
I chose this topic because it is really is important to me and I think it should be
important to everybody else because homelessness is a big issues around the
world.Nobody should be homeless or be judged or thrown in jail because they got
to do things to survive ,but unfortunately that's how the world works.I feel as if
there should be certain laws in place to help them not handle them or take it as
there doing bad things they are criminals. I chose this topic to inform you about
the issues going on with homeless people.
 My mentor
My mentor was Captain chiwight with the salvation army. He is a pastor for the
salvation army.

I Met him thru a friend that attended his church and my friend told me to come to
a service and after the service he introduced me to him and every since that day
he has been a great role model
Personal experiences
I have had many personal experiences I have witnessed for myself homeless
people being harassed and arrested for sleeping behind a store.It made me
upset because the store owner knew that the man was homeless he had stopped
and had many conversations with him. I wonder do people just stop and think
sometimes how hard it is to be homeless or do they ever try to feel what they feel
Overview of my Product
For my product I did a interview with the leader of the charlotte belmont salvation army.

I decided to do a interview because I felt like he could give me valuable information.I just didn't want to do
a regular poster of something of that nature I Really wanted to get hands on and ask a leader in the
community what he thought about some of the issues dealing with the homeless community.
Community Service Hours
For my community service hours I reached out to the salvation army
Challenges, Failures and Successful Moments
I've faced many challenging moments, this whole graduation project has been a
challenge. My main challenge was making sure everything was on time and
getting information and just making sure i was ready for the day I present

My successful moments came from when I did my interview with my mentor I

believe he gave me a lot of information about my topic and just having passion
about my topic
Thank You For LIstening