Poor health has been shown to cause and worsen homelessness. Poor health and lack of access to health care are among the causes of homelessness. For people struggling to pay for housing and other needs of daily living, the onset of a serious illness or disability can easily result in homelessness following the depletion of financial resources. Because health problems often precipitate homelessness, health insurance is important for the prevention of homelessness.
A significant proportion of the homeless population are experiencing mental health issues. Mental disorders prevent people from carrying out essential aspects of daily life, such as self-care, household management and interpersonal relationships. Homeless people with mental disorders remain homeless for longer periods of time and have less contact with family and friends. They encounter more barriers to employment, tend to be in poorer physical health, and have more contact with the legal system than homeless people who do not suffer from mental disorder. All people with mental disorders, including those who are homeless, require ongoing access to a full range of treatment and rehabilitation services to lessen the impairment and disruption produced by their condition.
Substance abuse is known to be a trigger and a consequence of homelessness. Many people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs never become homeless, but people who are poor and addicted have an increased risk of becoming homeless. Without appropriate treatment, they have very little chance of getting housing once they are on the streets. Homeless persons with addictive disorders do not usually have health insurance; thus, few of them are able to find the resources necessary to pay for their own treatment. There also are extensive waiting lists for addiction treatment in most states, and these persons are often dropped from the lists because they are difficult to contact.
There are many consequences to society resulting from homelessness. Obviously, the absence of an adequate place to live leaves people isolated from the basic necessities of life and community, like employment, health and a safe environment. Denied access to the basic necessities of life, homeless people are left unable to participate freely in anything. The social consequences of homelessness include unemployment, family and relationship breakdown, physical and mental problems and the inability to attain education.
Because homeless people do not possess the resources that ordinary people have to participate and compete in the labour market with, and are forced to spend the few resources they have on basic survival, they miss out on the chance for normal employment, and the benefits of employment that every normal person is able to obtain. Being homeless, they do not have a fixed physical address to be able to receive correspondence and it is virtually impossible for them to pay attention to hygiene. Without access to the labour market, it is virtually impossible for homeless people to end their poverty.
- Family and relationship breakdown
It is very rare for a homeless person to maintain ongoing contact with their families or even with society participants. In general, homelessness marks a rupture in family and community links, and can cause severe isolation within the person for a very lengthy period of time.
- Physical and mental health problems
Often, homeless people find themselves very depressed and many physical health problems that threaten their life enjoyment and life expectancy arise as a result of their current situation. A significant proportion of the health problems experienced stem from having to live without resources that permit good personal hygiene or nutrition. Research has shown that respiratory problems, dental problems, infectious disease and poor nutrition are common physical health problems experienced by the homeless population, and only occur to the homeless population. Some homeless people experience substance abuse problems. These problems occur a result of their situation and rehabilitation is often very difficult. Homelessness can also make drug taking riskier than usual because the resources are not available for taking necessary health precautions, increasing the risk of HIV and Hepatitis C.
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Why does the injustice still remain today?
Homelessness is the most distressing expression of extreme poverty. Such poverty is opposing to God's intention for a just society and individual well-being. It is sad to say, but homelessness persists in our affluent society because the world exists in a state of injustice and unrighteousness.
Media reports of a growing economy and low unemployment mask a number of important reasons why homelessness persists, and, in some areas of the country, is worsening. These include inactive or falling incomes, and less secure jobs that offer fewer benefits.
Homelessness is fundamentally a symptom of poverty. Individuals and families without incomes and social supports sufficient to meet their basic needs face a future that often includes homelessness. Though unemployment rates have fallen in many areas of the nation, recent studies indicate that the fastest growing jobs, primarily in the service sector, pay below even modest calculations of the cost of living. Related studies show that the strong economy has only widened the gap between the very rich and the very poor, and the poor earning less than they did 20 years ago. Forced to make impossible choices between housing, food, clothing, medical care, and transportation, many working individuals and families find themselves with nowhere to turn but shelters and the streets. Homeless people often have difficulty gaining employment or accessing income support due to their inability to access services or technologies (such as the telephone), supply an address, obtain identification papers or meet mutual obligation requirements. While jobless people may be forced to move to areas with lower employment prospects because they are offered public housing there or find other cheaper housing, this may result in a loss of their benefits for a certain period. While offering affordable housing, rural or outer suburban localities often lack employment opportunities and services available in high living cost metropolitan areas. Rural and remote areas and small towns and cities of 2 000 to 40 000 people generally find it difficult to provide the specialist services needed to prevent and reduce homelessness.
Homelessness still exists because many are denied comfortable paying jobs because they were not able to afford a decent education, which should be provided for everyone free of charge and provided for by the government. There are as many reasons for homelessness as there are people. The economy is not going to solve homelessness, as it increases real estate prices, the divide between the modern and the service economies, and other factors tend to make extremely poor people even more vulnerable. The universal changes needed are living-wage jobs, affordable housing, access to health care, and addressing other social issues.
Addressing the issue of homelessness is essential to the development of an inclusive and tolerant community seeking social justice and equity. Poverty persists because the poor lack the appropriate education or work experience-the human capital-to get jobs that pay a living wage and are either unable or unwilling to make the necessary self-improvement.
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Describe ways in which people living with the injustice struggle against/cope with it.
You wake up yet still feel very tired and sleepy. You slept in a shelter full of strangers; it is uncomfortable, noisy and smelly. In the morning you either leave immediately or hesitate to face just another long day. You are feeling quite hungry being that the day before you barely ate at all. You go into any public washroom and before leaving decide to wash your hands and face.
You walk towards your usual corner on George Street in the city, and are aware that the good busy spots are becoming other homeless people’s territory, so you check to see any spying eyes pry on your actions. You take out your usual sign and place it directly in front of you. This sign tells your life story and is a bitter reminder of how truly dismal your life is. You think of how you ever got to be in here in the first place, but you immediately stop, you never want to know. People pass you, look at you and quickly turn away. Most people seem embarrassed and don’t even look at you; while others give the most hateful looks that you have ever seen and felt. Few are the soft at heart and provide some pocket change. By mid-afternoon decide to hurry on to the nearest corner shop. With your meager change you buy your self a loaf of bread, after being greeted with suspicious eyes from the clerk. As you walk away eating, you feel eternally grateful for the abundance of left over food. You remind yourself to take the corner you had today again tomorrow. Amidst the inch of joy you are experiencing from eating something, a deep sorrow wrestles with your soul. And again the same question seeking reason…how did I end up this way?
Homeless people are confronted by their harsh reality constantly. They lead miserable, despondent lives, in hope of a miracle to take them away from their dreadful situation. Homeless people end up trapped in a system where in order to get a job, they must have a permanent address, and in order to get a permanent address, they must have a job. Being tackled with this problem relentlessly, they often feel trapped and clueless of what to do about their lives. For a source of food, they beg for it at the back of a restaurant, get it at a shelter or decide to steal it from people or shops. These people rarely shower themselves, simply because they cannot find anywhere to do so, and when they become sick, no one bothers to care. A lot of homeless people lead lives of “quiet desperation.” They keep to themselves and often times die while those around them just do not want to get involved to help them. Too often treated as a statistic of an ignorant society, these homeless people trapped in a vicious cycle of which they cannot alter.
It is sad to think that their bed is also their toilet, and that this sort of tragedy exists in such places as Sydney. In these times, homeless people often turn to substance abuse to try to force themselves out of their reality, but obviously, only destruction results. Other homeless people turn to other things in order to survive, which sometimes include sex work and prostitution. Quite often they are ignored because homelessness is considered a lost cause – people do not bother working towards putting an end to homelessness because it is so prevalent and widespread. Homeless people are injured and dying because of their state and situation. The conditions homeless people are forced to live in put people at risk for hypothermia, heart attacks, mental health problems, HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis, compulsive drug use and trauma.
Another major problem facing homeless people is drug use and involvement in crime and problem gambling. In 1999-2000 there was an alarmingly high rate of drug use amongst residents of
Sydney’s major crisis accommodation services, indicating that drug use is both a serious cause
and consequence of homelessness. Figures from an independent study show that 25 per cent of the
adult homeless population have major issues relating to alcohol use, while homeless people are 7.5
times more likely to be heroin dependent as compared to the general population.
Therefore, a homeless person will have to face an incessant number of problems throughout their period of homelessness. Though personal experiences of homelessness vary, homeless people find themselves dealing with similar issues. They must face starvation, sickness, substance abuse, the shame of begging, many other health problems, multiple barriers to work, including housing instability, medical and dental problems, mental illness, domestic violence, lack of transportation, and lack of child care, amidst the millions of other issues they must face on a daily basis. Met head-on with such issues, most homeless people turn to suicide, depression, substance abuse or any other way to try to escape what they have gotten themselves trapped in.
- What do we need to do to help put an end to this injustice?
Ending homelessness and addressing the universal problems that produce it is necessary for every country. At this time of turmoil and unrest when we have seen new dimensions of violence, we must recognize with greater clarity the structural violence of poverty that is slowly but surely destroying men, women, and children. And likewise, as we sense a deeper challenge to make peace in our world, we must recognize that solving homelessness and poverty is an essential act of creating peace. Addressing the visible wounds of homelessness is vital to restoring social and economic justice.
While the causes and solutions to homelessness are complex, there is much that an individual or community group can do to help. Volunteer work, advocacy efforts, financial or material contributions, and continued self-education are all important and needed as we work our way to a solution. Some suggestions are listed below:
Volunteering your time to work directly with people experiencing homelessness is one of the best ways to learn about homelessness and help to meet immediate needs at the same time. There is a lot of "behind the scenes" work (filing, sorting clothes, cutting vegetables, etc.) to be done at shelters and other direct service agencies.
- Some ways to help by volunteering include:
- Working at a shelter: Take an evening or overnight shift. Help with clerical work such as answering phones, typing, filing, or sorting mail. Serve food, wash dishes, or sort and distribute clothes.
- Offering professional skills directly or assist in job training: Direct service providers may be able to use many services and skills, including secretarial, catering, plumbing, accounting, management, carpentry, public relations, fundraising, legal, medical, dentistry, writing, child care, counseling, tutoring, or mentoring.
- Organizing an event at a shelter: Plan an evening program such as a board game or chess night, an open mike poetry reading, a guest storytelling or musical performance, or a holiday party.
- Working with children: Assist program directors who are coordinating events such as field trips, picnics or art workshops for children staying in homeless shelters. Find out if there are children who could benefit from tutors or mentors.
- Involving others: Convince your classmates, co-workers, church/synagogue members, or civic club to join or support your efforts.
- Advocate
Support is critical to creating the systemic changes needed to end homelessness. Advocacy means working with people experiencing homelessness to bring about positive changes in policies and programs on the local, state, and federal levels. It means working with various sectors of the community to develop workable strategies for responding to homelessness. It also means changing your language and behaviors in small ways that may contribute to larger changes in the way people experiencing homelessness are seen and treated in our society.
- Follow local politics: Attend neighbourhood and public meetings and speak up in favour of low-income housing, group homes, shelters, and homelessness prevention programs.
- Educate your leaders: Organize site visits for political leaders and the media to visit local homeless programs to highlight ways that your community is successfully addressing the many problems associated with homelessness.
- Involve the media: Call or write the media to inform them of your concern for people experiencing homelessness in your area. Write editorials when important issues related to homelessness arise in your community.
- Contribute
While the concern and support demonstrated by volunteer work and advocacy are essential, material assistance is also a necessity. Escaping and ending homelessness is a long process. In the meantime, people experiencing homelessness and the programs that serve them need help every day.
Needed items and services might include:
- Clothing: The lack of clean, well-fitting clothes and shoes causes great hardship beyond exposure to the elements – it hurts one's self-image and one's chance to get ahead. People experiencing homelessness must travel light, with few opportunities to safely store or adequately clean what they can't carry. On job interviews, a poorly dressed person has little chance for success. Give your clean clothes to those who could use them. Before you give your own clothes or start a clothing drive, talk to your local shelter and find out what items they really need. Most have limited storage space, and can't use winter clothes in summer or vice versa. Some serve only a certain group of people.
- Job opportunities: Encourage your company, school, or place of worship to hire people experiencing homelessness (if they are not already working). Most unemployed homeless adults desperately want to work, but need an employer to give them a chance.
- Consider giving directly to people experiencing homelessness: Deciding whether or not to give to panhandlers is a personal decision. Some may not give money out of fear that it may be spent supporting an addiction. Although this is occasionally true, the money also may help someone buy a meal, afford housing, buy clothes, purchase an ID to stay in a shelter, pay for transportation to a job, childcare, healthcare, support a family member–the possibilities are numerous. In some cases, instead of giving money, people carry gift certificates to restaurants or granola bars, peanut butter crackers, sandwiches, or fruit to give to homeless people.
Bibliography
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Burke (1994) Homelessness in Australia: causal factors Canberra: AGPS
- Szego, J. (2002, July) Vanstone queries homeless figures
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Middendorp, C. (2002, May) New affordable housing: park benches for $2700
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Addressing Homelessness Brochure [online] [2003, September 20]
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National Alliance to End Homelessness [online ] [2003, September 19]
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Creating Social Justice [online] [2003, September 19]
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From ‘cause’ to ‘solution’ homelessness and the law in Australia and the United States [online] http://www.afho.org.au/4_publications/conference_papers/Lynch.pdf [2003, September 21]
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End Homelessness! [online] [2003, September 20]
