Violence on Our Streets and Society's Punishment of the Homeless

I have dealt with violence in many forms over the years. I have dealt with my own abusive life and helped many victims of abuse. If violence can happen in our homes, it will certainly erupt into our streets. No one can deny the fact that our streets are dangerous.

Those people living on the streets are in danger daily. They face disease, hunger, depression, violence, and a whole host of other problems. Violence towards the homeless is many times just fueled out of hatred. After doing some research, it was clear I would tackle the problems of the homeless which is another problem I care about. It is one we all should take more seriously.

In this article, I will give some basic facts and deal with some basic information about being homeless. It may be information you have seen before or maybe not. Anyone who wishes to gain more information about this problem can surely find it. I certainly had no problem finding information. I will also include some links throughout the article to allow the reader to gain some further information about topics being covered in this article.

In this article, I will go beyond just giving facts about being homeless. I will be giving information about the real harsh aspects of being homeless. I will look at the dangers of being homeless. I will give factual information about the criminalization of homelessness, and the violence toward homeless people.

It is sad that in a country as rich as ours, that so many people have to live in these terrible conditions. It is even harsher to realize the lack of compassion from others within our community even though many of us are just one pay check or one disaster away from be homeless ourselves.

It is the goal of this article to try to reach the reader's heart and to get readers to realize that this could happen to them.

There have been many other articles written about this subject, but I believe we must never stop. The more we speak out on anything needing to be changed in our society the more of a chance we have to see the change happen.

This article will often refer the reader to the National Coalition for the Homeless.

This is one organization working hard to educate and fight for the rights, freedoms, and safety of the homeless. This organization along with many others are trying to find better ways to help the homeless. This writer solutes the efforts of all those who are working to help the homeless instead of trying to harm or hurt them. These are people who need our help.

By helping them, we help ourselves. Helping to put the right services in place to help those who are currently homeless, will make these same services available for any of us should we ever find ourselves in this same situation.

In doing the research for this article, I found a whole lot of interesting information which I suggest if you really want to know the facts about the homeless you should visit the Facts About Homelessness. You will find a whole lot of factual information.

The resources of this article will list the information links which will help the reader to understand the problem of homelessness.

Some Facts About The Homeless

Many people have their own ideas of what they believe a homeless person to be. These preconceived notions make up the stereotypes which represent the homeless person in the eyes of many people within our society.

The facts and information presented in this section is meant to deal with these ideas and to diminish them by using these facts. As you will see, the homeless person is not the bums and dregs of humanity they have been claimed to be. They are human beings which have had some hardships, tragedies, and bad luck. All of us have the potential to become homeless, as much as, we have the potential to become successful. It only takes one tragedy, disaster, or hardship to place us there. For many being homeless just seems like a never ending nightmare of pain and suffering.

United States Homeless Statistics

* The average age of a homeless person living in the US is nine years-old.
* 3.5 million people (1.35 million of which are children) will experience homelessness in a given year.
* Children under the age of 18 account for 39% of the homeless population. 42% of these are under the age of 5.
* 43% of the homeless population are women; 40% of these women are unaccompanied. 22% of homeless women claim domestic abuse as reason for homelessness. 25% of these claim to have been abused within the past year.
* Families with children comprise 33% of the homeless population.
* Vets constitute 40% of the homeless population.
* 1 in every 5 homeless persons has a severe or persistent mental illness.
* 25% of the homeless nationwide are employed.
(Information available at LAHSC.)

As the economy continues to worsen and prices continue to rise, the numbers of the homeless are likely to rise. Housing, utilities, food, clothing, and transportation costs are basic needs which continue to become harder for the poor to afford. The costs of these basic needs continues to rise at a rate which exceeds what they are making on their jobs. This makes their ability to survive without becoming homeless a much more difficult task.

If you think this can't happen to you, then you are living in a fantasy world. There is a growing number of families and working poor becoming homeless. When those who work at a minimum wage job must pay 400 to 600 dollars a month for rent, there is not much left for the other basic needs. In some cities, a minimum wage job will not even cover the amount of rent. Where does that leave these people, on the street.

Negative Views About the Homeless

Here are some negative views which definitely fuel the bigotry and attitudes of many people toward the homeless. If we are ever going to make life better for the homeless, we must start to deal with the negative attitudes. These negative views represent an attitude of ignorance. I hope this article will help to dispel some myths and stereotypes of people who are suffering the most extreme problems of poverty.

These are comments which I have heard many people express over and over again.

* "Only bums are homeless. Self-respecting people would never find themselves in that situation."

* "They are a waste of space, and the air they breath."

* "They could end over population by just destroying all the homeless."

* "Who likes to see some crazy old stinky bum sleeping on the steps of a building? Homeless people should go get a job and stop being lazy."

* "The homeless deserve to be in the situation they are in - if they had applied themselves and worked hard, they wouldn't be in this situation. I see no reason why I should contribute any of my hard earned money to help them."

(Read this Petition. It shows the ignorance of many people who believe that the homeless are just bums.)

I certainly hope the people who have made these comments and others like them, will never find themselves in this situation. If they do, they will learn a few things about what it means to be homeless. Those who make comments like those mentioned above have no clue about the realities of life.

I know people who worked all their lives at a job and built up a nice life for themselves. The company they worked at closed and moved to Mexico. Where did that leave them? How long does it take for your savings to be depleted when that is all you have to live on?
I know several who ended up living in a shelter and struggling to survive after the company closed.

When life happens this way, what is a person suppose to do? The people with the negative attitudes about the homeless need to take a good hard look at their own lives. If you really want to see the face of the homeless, look in the mirror. They look just like you and me.

People like to criticize and put down people who are weaker and are in desperate situations until that situation becomes their own. It is hard to empathize with people unless you have dealt with the same problems. Then once it does happen to them, they want the sympathy and wonder why it escapes them. Well, there is little sympathy for the homeless who are not looking for it. All they really want is a chance to make it on their own.

The Brief Stories of the Homeless

The stories below are brief, but they give some real life examples of who represent the homeless people in our communities. These are meant to dispel the negative views and stereotypes of the homeless. They are from people who have sent me letters over the years or E-mailed me through my website.

* "I use to think that the homeless were bums and the scum of society. I would walk past them and make offensive statements to them as I passed by them. I did not realize what it meant to be homeless.

A six months ago, the company I worked at for 20 years went bankrupt. It closed abruptly causing 100 people to be without jobs. I was one of them. I thought it would be easy to get another job, only to find out that was not the case. I lost the house because the payments was more then my unemployment could cover.

The house was repossessed and I found there wasn't any help available to me. At least not enough to maintain my livelihood. Being on the streets is more difficult then anyone could ever imagine.

I am 50 years old and it seems no one wants to hire me. I have two kids still at home or should I say living on the streets with me because we no longer have a home.

Yes, I have to panhandle. When your kids are hungry, what can you do. Many services won't help because we have no address. Life is nothing like I would have imagined. I never thought I would ever be homeless, but here I am.

* "I am 32 years old and I am homeless. I work a full time job. My credit is not very good because of past medical bills, and when I do apply for apartments I am turned down. I lost my house when it was repossessed. I have never done drugs or alcohol.

* "My name is Bill, and I am homeless. My son and I move from shelter to
shelter once our 30 days is up. I was let go when my company downsized, and I haven't
been able to find work since. I lost my house in a fire right before the company let me go. I am a single father just trying to find a way to survive and take care of my son. With the Job I would have been able to rebuild, but that is now lost to me."

* "I am Bonnie and I am 65 years old. I lived with my sister after my husband died, and I couldn't afford his past medical bills, my prescriptions, and food. Then, she could no longer afford to keep her house and went to live with her daughter. There was no room for me. Now I live in a shelter. I don't know where I will go once my 90 days is up."

* "My husband beats me, and I can't tell you my name for fear that he will find me. I live in a YWCA, but this is the 10th shelter I have lived in because I have to travel
around so much. Thank God we didn't have children together, I wouldn't want them to
see me like this."

* "I am a college graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Business. I work as a bank teller in a bank. This is the best job I could get, and it pays barely above minimum wage. I have had interviews, but once they find out I am homeless it all ends. No one expects that a person graduating from college would ever end up on the street. Well, student loans, rent, food, utilities, and other necessities can't be bought and maintained on my salary. So, I go to a bathroom every morning and clean up to go into a bank to work. I come home to a place under a bridge where I have made a make shift shelter for myself. Shelters around here are very scarce. By 5:00 p.m. when I get off work, they are already full. This was not my plan after college, but it is all I can hope for at the moment."

(A better and more complete story of a homeless person is available at the following site, I Hate My Life. This story is much to long to post here, but I suggest the reader click on the linked title and read this story.)

The Suffering Involved in being Homeless

You have lost everything you own and now must be on the street. You are now homeless. As quick as you can make the money, you can end up with nothing.

Once on the streets, the dangers intensify. Life is no longer lived behind closed doors, but in plain view of everyone. The homeless are treated badly. They are treated like scum by many people within communities throughout our country. The dangers they face affect their chances of survival. The mortality rate of homeless people is three times higher than the general population and severely ill individuals have a 2.4 times higher risk of death during any year.

If you were to be homeless, you would be facing dangers which most people could not even fathom. Health problems, violence, abuse, isolation, criminal action,

Homeless Help

It takes no imagination at all to realize that the streets are dangerous, but many people just don't care. They just wish to not be bothered by the poor homeless person. Better to avoid the problem then to face the harsh reality that this could happen to anyone.

Many people seem unmoved by the deaths of homeless people. If they happen to die, then so be it. There will be less of them. What a way to think about other human beings. Has our society really gotten that unconcerned? Have we totally lost our compassion for other people within our communities?

What if this happened to you? If you lost your job tomorrow or was involved in a tragedy which took your life savings and left nothing to live on, and you had no family to turn to for help; what would you do? If you ended up on the street, would you want people treating you like trash because you fell on hard times?

To add to the suffering and emotional despair of the homeless, people just wish to kick them when they are down.

Did You Know It is a Crime to be Homeless?

Well, now there is a way to end the homeless problem. Let's make it a crime and put them in Jail. Oh, now let's not stop there. Let's make it a crime to be poor. We already know that the law does tend to favor people who have more resources. Now, we are going to criminalize poverty.

If we are a society that makes it a crime to loose your home, then the inevitable conclusion should be that to end poverty we must put everyone in jail. Gee, isn't our jails overcrowded. Apparently judges and law enforcement are bored and have nothing else to do with their time, but to lock up the poor.

You will notice, when looking at the information in the fact sheet mentioned below, that the very cities, who are making it a crime for the homeless to sleep or living in public places, have inadequate shelters to meet the need of the homeless. Many of the requests for shelters by the homeless went unmet. These cities will not help them get off the streets, but will make it a crime for them to stay on a bench or to loiter. Where are they suppose to go? I guess the new homeless shelters should have bars.

People may say that they should be arrested if they panhandle for money. Ask yourself this if you agree with that statement. What lengths would you go to in order to feed your family? Many of the same people who make such statements cheat on their taxes and try to find a way to scrape money from others. It is no difference to ask for money on a street corner then to cheat someone out of money in a business deal, sales transaction, or to cheat on taxes.

Putting people in jail because they are homeless is not the actions of a civilized society. It is not a part of the principles this country was founded on. It only says if your are poor you risk being locked up. We can never solve the problems of poverty and homelessness by locking up the poor. This only create more problems.

We need let our compassion govern us and try to find real solutions which will benefit all.

Refer to the report from the National Coalition for the Homeless titled, A Dream Denied: The Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. Cities. More information and statistics are available there.

They say crime doesn't pay, but neither does being homeless.

Hatred Fuels Much of The Violence Toward the Homeless

Just how bad has violence become for the homeless? Are they really killed just because they are hated for being homeless?

When we think of hate crimes, we think of those directed at minorities or those targeted because of sexual preferences. It is, also, being directed toward the homeless. Hatred towards lower classes fuels rage in many people.

Hating people just because they are different has been a problem in this country for many, many years. It is something which one would think would be less prevalent in a nation of freedom. In this modern society, we would think that our level of advancement would allow us to be more accepting of others, but in reality we are not accepting. We just pretend we are and look the other way while the people who are suffering continue to suffer. Why help them? What benefit could we possibly gain by helping others?

Those things we hate the most are those things which represent our fears. We fear death because we know we will end up dying one day. We fear those things the most which are problems we ourselves are afraid we will experience. We do not want to see the reality that these same problems could one day happen to us.

Hate crimes take this to the extreme. It is getting rid of those who are different or who represent something which we are afraid of. Everyone fears poverty. You don't have to face it if those who suffer from it do not exist.

When the homeless are murdered, are their murders really taken as seriously as those who are not homeless? I doubt it. If they are murdered, they no longer exist and isn't that what most people want? Ending the problems of the homeless by getting rid of the homeless people.

If we fear poverty so much, why not work for solutions instead of killing the victims.

See a real life example of the new sport for teens.

Visit The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) for more information about this subject.

Closing Thoughts

I hope the reader will come away from this article with a clearer understanding of the plight of the homeless in this country. I know that this is one issue getting a whole lot of publicity and which everyone has heard something about. I just believe that we can never stop speaking out on issues which reflect the suffering of Americans.

The scope of the homeless problem is so far reaching that it was hard to bring it into a more generalized framework. I wanted to give enough information and personal examples along the way for the reader to see the people who are homeless.

Please do not let general statistics cloud your view. There are many homeless who are just John and Jane Does who are unknown to many people. They do not stand out. These are those which are not even counted in the statistics. The stigma of being homeless has made many remain so hidden that they are unknown to authorities. So, the true scope of this problem will remain a mystery.

After doing the research I have done for this article, I do not blame them for keeping themselves hidden. It is not popular to be homeless. It is degrading and people are not always nice to the homeless as this article has shown.

There are many different types of people who are homeless. There are educated people, families, those who work, veterans, handicapped, children, teens, and many others who are now homeless. Don't assume that all prefer to be homeless. Less than 6% of homeless are there by choice.

The reader will notice that I did not put my own experience into this article. This is because I have been lucky in this respect. I did when I was younger spend a couple of months on the street, but for me this was from my own stupid mistakes. I have managed to keep my family housed even though I had limited resources. I have been very close to becoming homeless, but somehow I managed to avoid it.

This does not mean that I believe I am exempt from ever becoming homeless. I do not live in a rosy colored world where tragedy does not exist. I know the reality exists that tomorrow I could become homeless. I know the cold hard facts of life and do not take anything for granted.

We all must realize how easy we can loose what we have right now. Those who are comfortable today could be homeless tomorrow.