S. Marty Panz

Mr. Leventhal / Ms. Turdo

English 10: Period 2

24 February 2016

Homelessness: What’s the Problem?

What I Know, Assume, or Imagine

When I go to a major city I often look at the beautiful buildings and take a look at the

surrounding area. Most often, I tend to see people in worn out clothes walking around with

shopping carts. These shopping carts are not filled with nice new clothes, but with their only

personal belongings they have. I often wonder how these people can live their lives with only

these few things, but then I ask myself a bigger question. Why are these people living on the

streets and how can they live this way?

As I travel through some cities I notice many homeless people. Seeing people walk

around with raggedy, torn, old clothes it makes me believe that the city is not nearly as nice as I

thought it was. If I notice these things, others must notice them too. This makes me wonder if

the amount of homeless people in a city changes anything about a city.

I assume that these people do not have the money to go out and buy clothes and food

when they really need it. Many homeless must get their meals each day from a shelter or some

other source to help out the homeless. If they do not, then how are the supposed to survive? Let

alone food, how do they survive the cold winter nights out on the streets? I get freezing just

walking home from the bus; I cannot even imagine staying outside all day and night in those

freezing temperatures. All of these questions led me to form the question: Why did homelessness

become a problem in America?

Panz 2

What the Experts Say

People who become homeless are not always the stereotypical alcoholics or drug addicts

that America may think. Notice : The topic sentence provides overview and is uncited. The

definition of a homeless person is an “Individual who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate night

time residence. An individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is a privately operated

shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations” (Shumsky 1). Out of America’s

homeless population, mostly males and minorities are the majority; however, there are also

women, children, and others (Shumsky 2). Also, some of these people are associated with

substance abuse and others may be suffering from mental illnesses (Shumsky 2).

Since homeless persons do not have anywhere to go at night, they must seek some sort of

shelter at nighttime. Plenty of people spend their nights in shelters, but in some cases there are

not any shelters available (Estrada-Berg 1). If no shelters are available, countless homeless make

their own shelters under highway overpasses and bridges (Estrada-Berg 1). Many also spend

their nights, and sometimes days, in makeshift huts and tents, parks, and abandoned buildings

(Estrada-Berg 1). For some, this experience can be eye opening, like Brianna DeMaio. She was

forced into homelessness after her mother could not keep up with the bills while struggling with

alcohol abuse. Brianna’s first night out on the streets made her “scared out of her wits” (Potenza

“I’ve” 1). Note: Specific cases or examples can help to illustrate your point perfectly.

Because many people, especially those in suburban or rural areas, do not see homeless

people on a regular basis, some may think that it is not a real issue. Nevertheless, homelessness

is a problem in America although the overall number of homeless is declining (Potenza “No” 1).

In the 80s there was anywhere between 250,000 and 600,000 homeless people (Shumsky 1).

Panz 3

Today in America there are approximately 300,000 homeless people a year (Potenza “I’ve” 6).

Some believe that President Reagan was the cause for such a sudden escalation in the homeless

population. According to Peter Drier, a senior researcher at the National Housing Institute since

1978, President Reagan was no friend to those who were poor or America’s cities (1). Note:

Occasionally, you should cite an actually source within the context of your research. Be sure to

give the following:

1. Name

2. Credentials

3. Information

4. Page number (no name is needed because you have already provided it.

Reagan actually pulled federal funds from low income housing in the 1980s (“Overveiw” 1).

According to Because of this, the homeownership rate fell and the poverty rate grew (Dreier 1).

The income gap between rich and all others widened (Dreier 1). Although the number of

homeless is declining, the numbers of homeless youth is at an all-time high (Potenza “No” 1).

There are more than 1 million young people that have been homeless at some point in America

currently (Potenza “No” 1).

People have been homeless since the beginning of times; however, during the 1930s

many Americans struggled with homelessness. One of the causes affiliated with homelessness is

the Great Depression. The Great Depression started with the stock market crash in October of

1929. As a result of this crash, 12 million people lost their jobs (Shenkman 1). These 12 million

people had no income, which also led to the loss of their homes (Shenkman 1).

Panz 4

With such a numerous amount of people losing their homes, homeless camps began to

develop. A camp of many people during the Great Depression was called a Hooverville

(Shenkman 1). People named these camps Hoovervilles after President Herbert Hoover’s failure

to help the economy and end the depression (Shenkman 1). Hundreds of thousands of people

lived in Hoovervilles all over the country during the 1930s (Shenkman 1). Several of those

living in Hoovervilles wandered the country looking for food, shelters, and jobs (Shenkman 1).

Having such a multifarious population of homeless, many were kids. Over 25,000 youth

were homeless during the Great Depression (Potenza “No” 3). A countless number of youth also

traveled the country in search of jobs and homes (Potenza “No” 3). Known as boxcar children,

these homeless kids traveled in empty train cars (Potenza “No” 3).

Several years later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt began to make a plan to help end the

Great Depression. His plan was the New Deal, a series of domestic programs (Potenza “No” 3).

The plan of these programs were relieve, recover, and reform America. There was to be relief for

the unemployed and poor, recovery of the economy, and reform of the financial system (Potenza

“No” 3). The “Brains Trust” made this all possible in their first hundred days in office (“The

New Deal” 1). During these first hundred days they brought into act 15 new major laws to help

The Great Depression.

One of the major laws that the Brains Trust brought into act was the Banking act of 1933.

This law ended peoples panic about banks (“The New Deal” 1). With less worry about local

banks, people began to trust the banks and began to place their money back into them (“The New

Deal” 1). FDR promoted people to place money bank into the banks by using fireside chats

(“The New Deal” 1). These fireside chats were made through the radio (“The New Deal” 1).

Panz 5

Although there are many reasons why a person may become homeless;

deinstitutionalization, money, and natural disasters are some of the most common. In 1955, a

deinstitutionalization movement led many mental asylum patients to have nowhere to go

(Burling 1). There was a drastic decline in numbers of patients. In 1955, the number of asylum

patients dropped from 560,000 to 45,000 (Burling 1). There were not enough beds available for

the total number of patients needed to be housed (Burling 1). With the number or available beds

declining, many patients were discharged. Most of these people did not have any place to go.

These people went out into the streets as homeless (Shumsky 3). Some that did not end up on

the streets ended up in prisons, hospitals, and nursing homes (Burling 1).

Some people become homeless for other reasons, such as financial issues. A decline in

industrial activity in urban areas can lead to loss of jobs (Shumsky 4). A loss of a job in a family

can be a big impact of the income of that family. Rising house costs can also influence the

amount of people who are able to buy new homes or homes of their own (Potenza “No” 1).

Some members of families struggle with alcohol and/or substance abuse. These members

occasionally cannot find jobs. Without a job they may be unable to afford home payments

(Potenza “No” 1).

Another major factor of homelessness is natural disasters. For Example, Hurricane

Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi on August 23rd 2005 (Estrada-Berg 2). This hurricane did

not only affect the areas hit by the hurricane, but all of the United States. Volunteers were sent

from all over the country to try and service the residents and clean the mess. Hundreds of

thousands of people were left without homes after this terrifying storm (Estrada-Berg 2).

What It Means to Me

Panz 6

From the information I have researched, I have developed a new opinion on

homelessness. One of the most important things I have learned is that not all people who become

homeless are bums. Not every homeless person walks around pushing a shopping cart, lives

under bridges, or even has torn old clothes. I have also learned that there are several shelters to

provide food and shelter for homeless. Some of these places are for people to stay the night and

some are even for long term help.

An important fact I have learned was that 12 million people in the United States had lost

their jobs because of the stock market crash of 1929 (Shenkman 1). These people did not have

any say in whether or not they lost their jobs. They could not go out and get new jobs; there were

not any hiring jobs. I now know that many people lost their homes in the Great Depression

(Shenkman 1).

After my research I still wonder about a few things. Does the amount of homeless people

affect the reputation of a city? I wonder how often people that are homeless return to living a

normal life with a home. In conclusion, I have gained a large amount of new information on the

topic of homelessness and overall answered the majority of previous questions.

Panz 7

Works Cited

Burling, Stacey. “Penn ethicists advocate return of mental asylums” The Philadelphia Inquirer

21 Jan. 2015: A2. Print.

Dreier, Peter. “Reagan’s Legacy: Homelessness in America.” National Housing Institute. May/

June 2004. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.

Estrada-Berg, Victoria. "homeless shelters." Daily Life through History. ABC-CLIO, 2015.

Web.

“The New Deal.” Roosevelt Institute. n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.

“Overveiw of Homelessness In America.” National Student Campaign Against Hunger and

Homelessness. n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.

Potenza, Alessandra. "'I've been homeless for six years': Brianna DeMaio, 18, is one of more

than a million homeless youth in the United States. How do they survive on the streets?"

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Panz 8

New York Times Upfront 15 Sept. 2014: 10+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 12 Jan.

2015.

Potenza, Alessandra. "No place to call home: more than a million homeless young Americans

struggle to survive in shelters or on the streets." Junior Scholastic/Current Events 8 Dec.

2014: 8+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.

Shumsky, Neil Larry. "homelessness." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 13 Jan.

2015.

13 Jan. 2015.

Shenkman, Kenneth J. "Hoovervilles." World Book Student. World Book, 2015. Web. 13 Jan.

2015.

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