1.It is counterintuitive to think that homeless individuals are harmed by police officers, but unfortunately that is the case in many places.  Most would think that these officers have been ordered to help the needy in any way that they can, but on the contrary officers have been seizing items from the homeless that they need in order to survive in these cold winters.  This issue got so bad in Denver that the mayor had to order police officers to stop taking away the possessions of the homeless because other wise these people would not be able to survive.

There have been cases in some cities, such as Los Angeles, where individuals have been hospitalized after having their belongings taken away.  One woman was diagnosed with pneumonia after having her tent and blanket taken away during the winter.  State governments have made it even harder for the homeless to survive by taking away the little that they have.  All across the country there are city wide searches for the homeless where the few possessions they have are taken away. 

2.  It is counterintuitive to think that homelessness is not an issue in the United States.  Since Donald Trump became the newly elected President he has made many changes, but none of these changes have had any benefit to the homeless.  Trump talks about getting rid of things such as Obamacare, which provides healthcare to the lower class citizens of the United States.  He also has talked about instituting something called the “penny plan” which would take away one percent of government spending to pay for tax cuts.  These tax cuts would not touch Social Security and Medicare, but would seriously affect education, the environment, health issues, and housing programs.

Today many individuals depend on the government’s housing programs to sustain a place to live.  There is a very large amount of homeless people in the United States, and if these budget cuts affect the housing programs poverty is going to get much worse.  Many states fear that there will be a large increase in the amount of homeless individuals and are trying to prepare for it as much as possible.  A lot of those in charge of helping to end poverty feel that the government should take more interest in the issue and trying to provide solutions to the problem.

3.  It is counterintuitive to think that there are not people out in the world trying to help the homeless.  There are those such as the creators of the 100,000 Homes Campaign who want to help people get out of poverty and into good living conditions.  Institutions like 100,000 Homes set out to provide housing for the homeless free of cost.  This truly is a great idea, but the only drawback is that it is hard to actually get the homeless to come to these places.  Most of the homeless have drug or alcohol problems, mental illness, or HIV/AIDS.  There are also many war veterans in poverty who need help.  The institutions that are created to help these individuals are often not easily obtainable for those in poverty so they go unnoticed and not known about.

With learning about the issues with free housing and poverty, separate institutions were created to help the homeless with whatever type of issue they had.  Whether it was that they needed medical attention for AIDS or counseling for mental illness, different types of housing was created for each specific situation.  This campaign that created all of these institutions called “Common Ground” got donations from the wealthiest people in the areas where poverty was the highest to help their cause and contribute to it.  Money was raised and their housing became known about.  People actually started coming to the housing sites and getting the help that they needed.  This showed that people coming together for one good cause can truly make a difference.

Smith, Laura, Marc Brünke/Creative Commons, Edwin Rios, Scott Carrier, Julia Lurie, Russ Choma, and Pema Levy. “Denver Is Hardly the Only City Seizing Homeless People’s Gear.” Mother Jones. Mother Jones, 16 Dec. 2016. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.

Bornstein, David N/A. “A Plan to Make Homelessness History.” The Opinion Pages. Opinionator, 20 Dec. 2010. Web. 25 Dec. 2017.

Rios, Edwin D. “Trump Hasn’t Said Much about Homelessness-and That’s Making a Lot of People Nervous.” Mother Jones. Mother Jones, 8 Dec. 2016. Web. 25 Jan. 2017.