Essay #2

A friend asked me a question as I gave a homeless gentleman holding a sign $5.00. Clearly we could notice this homeless gentleman was suffering from some kind of mental disablity. The sign he was holding read, "I won’t lie, I need a beer," My friend asked me how could I give anybody money who clearly intended to use it to support their alcohol habits. He added to this by saying, "instead of begging for money on a corner, they should be out somewhere trying to get a job & a stable place to live." My response to my friends comment was, "what if the homeless individual had a disability, or some other handicap that prevented them from being productive members of society, as obviously he does?" When I asked my friend this, I could see my friend’s entire demeanor change. He went from an individual with an obvious problem against homeless people, to an individual that looked like he wanted to donate everything he processed to help every homeless person he could. This conversation made me come to the conclusion that, "The basic human rights of many are being taken away by the injustices of the federal government."
Lets look at some of the different segments of the homeless population that are in need of the resources that are currently being eliminated by the federal government. Chronically homeless people are defined as the most troubled of the homeless population, suffering from predominately mental disorders, & have been living on the streets for at least a solid year. One of the most common mental disorders is a disorder known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This disorder in particular occurs when an individual suffers a major psychological event; such as the death of someone close to him or her, war, or any other event that could potentially be psychologically traumatizing to a person. PTSD causes certain individuals to suffer from acute systems of anxiety, in some known cases hallucinations. And for this disorder in particular scientists have yet to develop a cure. However, PTSD is not the only mental disorder represented by the nation’s homeless population, disorders such as schizophrenia also causes a person not to function effectively in society. Schizophrenia is defined as an psychological disorder that severely impairs a person’s thought processes, perceptions, & causes distorted beliefs. Shockingly, individuals like these are out on the streets with no housing or resources to help them survive. Another segment of the homeless population is the veterans of the nations armed forces. These particular veterans have served in the U.S military, but for various reasons don’t receive the benefits that are offered by the government when their service is over. So in turn they are forced to live on the streets, while they are being processed for benefits, or because their refused benefits by the Federal Veterans Association (VA). Understanding that these segments only account for a portion of the overall population that is currently homeless. Not including the teen runaways that are running from sexually abusive environments, or the single parents that are forced to be homeless due to economic instability.
Here are some statistics I gathered to support the fact that the federal government is eliminating the economic resources that individuals need to help prevent them from being homeless. Or if they are currently homeless, the resources that could potentially help them get their chance at social stability. According to statistics gathered by the Western Regional Advocacy Project the federal government in 1978 appropriated $83 billion dollars in the fiscal budget for maintaining affordable housing for the homeless population. As of 2005 the federal government only appropriated a total of $29 billion dollars, which is 65% less than 18 years prior. In other words, the finances that were allotted to help assist the increasing amount of homeless American’s on the streets has now been cut to less than 45% represented in the current fiscal budget. Examples of these housing resources are sober houses, community housing, FEMA emergency shelter plans, HUD Continuum of care plans, ICH, & other programs that are targeted to help assist individuals that can’t obtain housing due to disabilities, or other uncontrollable ailments by supplying economic assistance. Another staggering fact is that as of 2005 the federal government spent $122 billion dollars on subsidies for the middle-class & affluent homeownership programs, in comparison to 1978 when the federal government only devoted $38 billion dollars, which is approximately $84 billion dollars more. This means that the federal government has directed most of its attention towards individuals/families with substantially higher incomes to receive more support. While causing those whom actually may need more assistance due to they’re deteriorating economic positions to fall by the waste side. To add insult to injury in 2004 61% of the subsidies that were allotted went to households that earned over $57,787.00, while only 20% went to households that earned less than $18,465.00. With a property threshold for households of 4, with 2 minor children was $19,157.00. Thus, over 60% of the subsidies for housing went to households that made over $57,000 dollars, while households that made under $18,500 dollars only received 20% of the assistance, in return pushing more families into homelessness. I’m using these staggering statistics to help you better understand that since 1978 the federal government has cut many resources that could potentially provide housing for thousands of homeless individuals. As well as eliminating the resources that could potentially be preventative to the increasing amount of households that are currently being forced to make living on the streets a reality.
Since the 1970’s the federal government has required communities to summit competitive applications for federal largesse, giving the impression that this approach could effectively address the issue of homelessness with the grant amounts provided. However, in return for the grants giving, the feds would have to devote a majority of the money back to the federal government. This has to be one of the most underhanded, acts of betrayal I have ever encountered. To think that while the federal government is writing these grants in intentions of redirecting the rise in homelessness, they’re secreting basing the approval of these grants contingent on receiving majority of the grant capital back. This is a complete contradiction to the federal governments’ appeal for solving the homeless housing epidemic over 25 years ago. In addition to this fact, in the span of 7 years the government has created 500,000 fewer affordable housing units in rural areas all across the nation. This is an average of 35,000 fewer units per year that are intended to assist struggling individuals/families with affordable housing. Which equates to thousands of individuals each year being forced out on the streets, due to the federal government’s intentions of retrieving the money allocated to prevent such cases.
Now lets turn our attention towards the overwhelming evidence that proves that we as a nation have abandoned our commitment to funding federal housing programs. Since the 1970’s the federal government has deemed thousands of governmental housing developments closed. But in actuality there are a lot of these developments that are still in livable condition. The reason that this information is pertinent to my argument is because in some instances the federal governments’ only rational for closing these developments was due to the communities out poor for better neighborhoods. In other circumstances the communities have refused to pay for governmental housing assistance, thus forcing many other developments to be closed. So the reality is that we as society have contributed to the elimination of some of the resources necessary to help prevent thousands of individuals each year from becoming homeless. The idea that there is housing available that is/was funded by the federal government, & on a corner at the end of the same block there is a homeless man holding a sign such as the homeless man I encountered earlier in the introduction is a travesty. What does this say about our human rights? If my annual income or my social status somehow justifies the amount of rights I have as an American citizen, or better yet as a human being. Then what is the point in having the U.S Constitution, or any of the numerous Amendments that have been established to prevent injustices such as these?
In retrospect if we as a society use our voice to redirect the direction of the federal government, then the resources that were effectively outlined in the 1978 policy could be reinstated. Failure to do so will only widen the range of individuals we encounter on corners in our communities. I understand that not every deserves an opportunity at housing, due to lack of motivation, & level of responsibility. But for those individuals that are fighting to achieve economic stability, but lack the resources to make this a reality, what can do we say about them? No we can’t save everybody, but if we as a society can’t save 1 person from being homeless how much have we truly accomplished? I have outlined many facts regarding the change in our governments approach to rectifying the issue, but the reality is if don’t do something immediately the cost can be catastrophic. In closing, the basic human rights of all of us are being secretly taking away at every moment; this includes financial resources & housing. We have to do something now or it’ll be to late.



Citation:
Western Regional Advocacy Project "When the Federal Government Abandoned Affordable Housing, it Abandoned Millions of Americans to Poverty & Homelessness"
April 1, 2006
Accessed via
Www.mindfully.org/Reform/2006/Affordable-Housing-Abandoned1apr06.htm
July 30, 2008
James Rogers, "Homelessness, the poor, & local poverty regulation" Re-accessed viawww.reformed.org/webfiles/antithesis/v1n3/ant_v1n3_homeless.htmlOn July 29, 2008
Kyosuke Yoshida "Homeless in the United States" June, 2, 1995 Accessed via
Dwardmac.pitzer.edu/faculty/jkaret/cbny96/ap8kyopap.html - 7k-July 9,2008