Ending Homelessness

P1. We pass people on the streets of New York or Los Angles and do not give them a second look. We are afraid to talk or look at them, knowing that there is a chance they will ask us for something. Even though they have all the rights we have, why is it that we look down on them? According to David Bernstein’s in “A Plan to Make Homelessness History”each day, roughly 700,000 people in the country are homeless. Many poor people are at risk of homelessness because it is hard for them to afford housing. Communities across the country respond to homelessness with housing and services programs like emergency shelters, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing. One of the biggest causes of homelessness is brain injuries. Traumatic brain injury is caused by a blow to the head that disrupts normal functions of the brain. Traumatic brain injury can be caused by exposure to physical abuse during childhood, alcohol and substance abuse, and motor vehicle traffic crashes and assaults. Providing health care for these people is challenging because of their difficult behavior patterns. These behaviors may be related in part to their brain injury and may affect cognitive impairment, attention defects, disinhibition, impulsivity and emotional lability. With the right support services these deficits can be reduced.

P2. Bornstein argument is correct when saying we need more homelessness shelters. Putting these people with mental illnesses and those who just need shelter in facilities to get back on their feet reduces the poverty rate. Housing reduces many problems: poverty rates, crime rates, and providing children with the opportunity to get an education and live a better life.  These housing facilities can help those get back on their feet and get a paying job so they can contribute to society. It is cheaper to give homeless men and women a permanent place to live than to leave the on the streets. Bornstein explains to us in “The Street-Level Solution”once people return to housing, they are in a much better position to rebuild their lives due to support and the belief they will live a better life.

P3. With housing comes social problems. Once in housing they can feel isolated and lonely. If they have lived on the streets for so many years they are use to that environment and acquire skills and a sense of pride to survive. Many who come to housing need support with mental health problems, addictions, and illnesses. They also need assistance with everyday challenges in rebuilding their lives, relationships,finding activities they enjoy, managing finances, and learning to eat healthy. A great solution is communal residence with special services so they not only have professional support but the support of those around them going through similar situations.

P4.The rate of traumatic brain injuries are higher among people who are homeless compared to the general population. The seriousness of a TBI can range from mild to severe. In the homeless population cognitive impairment may increase the risk of remixing homeless.There is a greater understanding between the homelessness and TBI, it is necessary in order to prevent and for intervention programs aimed at reducing the frequency and managing the symptoms of TBI among people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Most of the homeless community suffer from head traumas but what we don’t know are they many different kinds and ranges there are. We can try and help them but in reality even with housing and the support of those working in the housing facilities it just isn’t enough. Due to the severity of some brain trauma those people need extra care and professional help that the housing facilities simply can’t afford. The governments lack of funds does not allow for us to treat all the people that come through the homeless facilities with the proper care they need and deserve.

P5. The big story with street homelessness is that when cities make a concerted effort to reduce it they succeed. They have done this by guiding homeless people into permanent supportive housing with retention rates between 85 to 90 percent. In Los Angles, the nation’s homeless capital, 4,800 people about 10 percent of the city’s homeless population consume half a billon dollars in services annually. Providing them with housing is 40 percent cheaper than leaving people on the street. Even though a solution to ending homelessness is within sight, Bornstein makes it clear that housing agencies need to change there ways they work to implement it. They need to target the neediest people and coordinate with other agencies and nonprofits, he says in “A Plan to Make Homelessness History”.

P6. While much is being done, further federal, state and local action is needed to end homelessness. The federal government needs to expand affordable housing programs, particularly in section 8 housing. In times of emergency people can accomplish big things. Bornstein opens are eyes as to how many people are actually living on the streets everyday and how it is so simple to become homeless. One accident can change a persons life and effect their families lives. “Until recently homelessness has been treated as an inconvenience not a life and death matter” Bornstein says in A Plan to Make Homelessness History. When someone has been living on the streets for 15 years, it is easy to think “What’s another few months?” Until you know that person or are in there shoes you will never know the true struggle and courage it takes to survive and push through everyday.

                                                                     Work Citied

Bornstein, David. “The Street Level Solution.” New York Times. N.p., 24 Dec. 2010. Web.29           Jan. 2017.

Bornstein, David. “A Plan to Make Homelessness History.” New York Times. N.p., 20 Dec. 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.

MPH, Stephen W. Hwang MD, Angela Colantonio PhD OT Reg, Shirley Chiu MA, George Tolomiczenko PhD MPH, Alex Kiss PhD, Laura Cowan BScN, and Donald A. Redelmeier MD MSHSR. “Stephen W. Hwang MD MPH.” The Effect of Traumatic Brain Injury on the Health of Homeless People. N.p., 07 Oct. 2008. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

Padgett, Deborah K., Benjamin F. Henwood, and Sam J. Tsemberis. “Homelessness in America.” Housing First (2015): 16-29. Web.

“The State of Homelessness in America 2016.” National Alliance to End Homelessness. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.