Homelessness is something that one would never wish upon the worst of enemies. Food, clothes, a roof over one’s head, and basic utilities; these are necessities to sustain a decent life and nobody should ever have to struggle to attain them. It is astounding to know that there are over 18 million vacant homes in the United States and a little over 3.5 million homeless people; that’s three homes for each homeless person. Yet greed of the banks prevails – these are some really vile people (if…you know, corporations are ‘people’).
Adding salt to the wound, many people automatically think of homeless people as low class citizens who probably are deserving of such conditions– being a drug addict is a usual go to excuse. People in charge of many cities feel the same way; over 50 cities have made helping homeless people illegal and many others have placed spikes under bridges and overpasses to keep homeless people from sleeping there. Some cities (i.e. Tampa, Florida) have even given permission to the police to arrest people sleeping in public, or “storing personal property in public” and even banned panhandling. The reason behind taking such measures is to drive homeless people away from the cities so that the ‘normal’ population isn’t disrupted (or disgusted) by the homeless.
By no means is being homeless anybody’s personal choice and degrading such people during their rough time – instead of extending a helping hand – is atrocious beyond all means.
Utah has set the best example as to how the homelessness issue should be tackled – surprise, surprise – it’s by giving them a home. How can they afford it? Well turns out that giving homeless people a home costs about $12-13 thousand per person vs. the near $20 thousand that ends up getting spent on their emergency medical needs and incarceration (arresting them is also just a sheer waste of time).
Anyone that thinks that an initiative like this will make homelessness appealing has seriously lost their mind. Nobody wants to feel poor or useless. Unfortunately, the media plays absolutely no role in helping provide relief for such scenarios or shape a healthy mindset. Poor people are consistently pinned to an image that is simply unfair and inhumane. It is time we realize that the idea of American Dream must incorporate the idea of lifting up those in need – and not pushing others down to attain your own success. We must aim to live in a society where we empathize with those struggling and perhaps play a role in helping better the situation instead of laughing at their misery and shaming their image even further.
We do not need to continue to destroy our planet further to make houses when there are plenty vacant. The answer to homelessness is right in front of us, we just hope the people in charge would take a notice.