Introduction
A wise man said once, people are what make a city great and a lot of those people are without the things they need. These things could be anything from shoes on their feet to electricity in their home or clean running water in which to bathe, cook or clean. However, there are people who do not have any of those things and these people are known as the homeless. The worthless mayor of the city is on a power trip/high horse because she is not doing anything great for the city or trying to do anything to help out the city’s homeless and there are a lot of them; sadly. In the past, I have talked to more than a few girls who were on the brink of becoming homeless because of irrigation problems in their trailer park. It is a bad deal when the mayor who, supposedly watches over the city, are ignorant to problems like this. The city’s homeless problem has grown over the last few years, and it is getting worse with each passing month. People who have aspirations to go back to school so they can get out of their deplorable situation do not get the opportunity to because they are made homeless due to situations beyond their control, job security is one of the biggest factors that contribute to homelessness today. It is also a known fact that people are made homeless for other reasons as well, but the fact remains that there is too many homeless and nothing is being done to get them off the streets. I make this known because no one deserves to be homeless and the homeless deserve to have some shelter where they can get a bath, a little education and help finding a job so they can live with dignity.
Body
The seriousness of this problem has escalated to the point where the homeless in the city are getting picked up by the police and spending the night in jail just to get them off the street, the seriousness of this problem could also be measured by the amount of homeless people that are seen hanging out down by the bus/train depot downtown; it can also be said that is another “home” that the homeless go to. The city’s homeless have been known to hang out at this locale to get out of the elements such as the hard rain in the summertime and the freezing snow/biting wind chills in the wintertime. Haggerty (2011) points out that homelessness is a problem that many face in our world today, but not enough is being done about it. City officials do not know where to draw the line most times as far as what they are going to do about it (Haggerty, 2011, pg.1). It is a real upsetting thing when a woman with 2 children have no place to go and are made homeless because the woman is trying to get away from an abusive ex, this has had devastating effects on the woman’s chances of finishing school if she is in school or even trying to strive to go back. Some of these calibers of women are usually found hanging out at the bus station begging for change to use the pay phone just to get a hold of a distant relative so they can get transportation to go to where they are, this situation is even worse for children because they have no way to survive without their parents. It used to be that old world gangbangers and uneducated people made up a mass majority of the homeless population, it is now young women with children and kids who were raised in broken as well as dysfunctional homes. The city’s homeless population are hanging out in populated areas where they are being forced to flee from because of police threats. The homelessness of the city is not getting any better because it seems like low income housing is few and far between, it is not readily available like it was 23 years ago. A lot of people do not have a place to let their heads; it is sad, really.
Solutions
One way that the mayor could go about clearing the street of all of the homeless people is by fixing up the local shelter, it is a real rat trap in there and she could have the shelter open 24/7; it is rumored that the shelter is closed during the day then at night it is only open for a few hours at a time. Fixing up the local shelter is one of the best ways that the mayor can give the homeless a place to go when they have nowhere else, the shelter could offer them a place to lay their heads as well as 3 square meals a day. Soper (2014) points out that homelessness can possibly be fixed technologically if some officials were a little bit more open to ending homelessness in a hurry, there are kids who do not need to grow without a home of their own (Soper, 2014, pg.1). The hardest part of trying to cure homelessness is knowing where to start, but that is the easy part ironically. Local shelters should be used to cater to the homeless populace, people face circumstances that forces them out of their home and they cannot do anything about it because they either lack the courage to go the local shelter or they do not want to go for their own reasons. Some people who know of the local shelter, do not go because they do not see themselves in a shelter; they want to be somewhere nice. People would be more open to going to the shelter if the mayor fixed the one in the city and have a few more built around the city, it is always a good idea to have more than one because the concept of overcrowding is still a legitimate concern. The most important part about this suggestion is that the homeless people be herded to a place where they can have a hot meal and a place to lay their heads, it is all about making sure they are within the safe confines of the shelter. This is good for future homeless people or people who are driven from their homes because of abusive relationships or job security or lack thereof, the mayor has to be willing to prepare for the worst case scenario for the citizens of her city. From what I can tell, she is not even looking at the city let alone over it.
Helping the homeless reestablish a place of their own is one of the biggest responsibilities, but one that is required in order to cure the homeless problem. Another thing that the mayor could do is arrange for a transportation vehicle to pick up a few people at the shelter and deliver them to income housing or housing authority, talk to a few people then fill out some paperwork. Shortly after, the housing authority looks into putting those residing at the shelter into low income housing until they can get a job. Doing this would guarantee that people would have a place of their own without the headache of waiting several years before being able to move into their place, all of the homeless people at the shelter who filled out their paperwork at the housing authority will get their paperwork pushed through almost immediately. This is a valid way for people to have an address of their very own, they will also be able to get to and from work as well via public transportation. Schanes (2010) points out that providing a permanent place for the homeless is priority numero uno and it is a cause that everyone should be trying to get behind because if it happened to your neighbor, it can happen to you too (Schanes, 2010, pg.1). There are some homeless people who have a place to live but not even way of how to provide for themselves, having access to educational tools in order to better one’s life is another way of helping the cause. The goal of there being no more homeless is not just an unrealistic dream, every homeless person in America can be helped in some way or other. Coincidentally, having computers within the shelters would inspire people to not give up on their goal to finish their education which not many get a chance to do. Besides a place to lay their heads, the mayor could have every single low income home refrigerator filled to the brim so the homeless always have food to eat when they are hungry and be given $1000.00 worth of food stamps to feed them as well as their kids for a whole year; just because they have low income housing does not mean they do not eat or get hungry like everyone else.
The final step in curing the homeless problem in the city is bringing in professional tutors and job counselors to help people find work opportunities so they can better themselves, if people are working as well as paying their own bills then there will be no homeless or people becoming homeless. However, the mayor can keep the resources for the future in case something happens to the next set of people who become homeless. This plan is all about helping the homeless get back on their feet and back into their own homes so they can get on with their lives, they can even pass their knowledge onto the next homeless person that they come across. At the end of the day it is all about ensuring that those who are homeless do not stay that way especially if they have children, having access to tools that can enable a community to cure their homeless problem is important and in so doing will spread the message that the mayor takes pride in helping those in the community. Ironically, people would say that the power to do all of these things and more lies within the homeless person but it is more about the power of officials that makes moves like this. Bringing in work counseling professionals can really give those without work hope that they can get the help they need in order to find the job that they want, it takes more than being good with interview skills; people who had no hope are given that hope back when they know that someone is looking out for them. The homelessness in this city can be afterthought for so many and the mayor has the power to do this, there is no excuse of the homeless epidemic in the city being an ongoing dilemma. Providing the homeless with low income housing as well as educational opportunities are ideal for getting the homeless off the streets so they can live their lives in peace, building and cleaning up the local shelters is a step in the right direction. Setting the stage to help the homeless requires a lot of planning, but worth it to be able to help those who are at the mercy of circumstances beyond their control. It can be said that knowing your citizens’ needs are what make a good leader.
References
Haggerty, Rosanne. "Homelessness Is a Solvable Problem." Community Solutions. 26 Sept. 2011. Web. 2 Nov. 2014. <http://cmtysolutions.org/blog/homelessness-solvable-problem>.
Schanes, Christine. "Three Steps To Ending Homelessness." Huffpost Healthy Living. 13 June 2010. Web. 3 Nov. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-schanes/three-steps-to-ending-hom_b_190878.html>.
Soper, Taylor. "Can Technology End Homelessness? These Seattle Entrepreneurs Are Aiming to Solve the Problem." Geekwire. 30 Apr. 2014. Web. 2 Nov. 2014. <http://www.geekwire.com/2014/hack-homelessness/>.
