Is Homelessness a Choice?
There are 582,000 homeless people in America and 21,951,000 millionaires. If there are so many millionaires, why are there so many homeless?
“It's not that the government is ignoring the issue of homelessness. On the contrary, last year California spent 10 billion dollars to help more than 500,000 people. But after all of that funding many homeless still remain.”
Why don't the millionaires just all pitch in with a little bit of their money to solve the homeless population? Well, it isn't that simple and there's no guarantee that all of the millionaires would agree. Some homeless are homeless by choice so that they don't have to work and can get all of the funds from the government for free, but not all of the homeless. Many are homeless because they didn't have a proper education, may be addicted to substances, or they have a mental illness. These people get some help, but instead of treating homelessness we need to cure it. Eradicating it will be hard since there are so many homeless people. Homelessness has been in America for a long time, as German Lopez, a writer for The New York Times Morning says, “But homelessness took decades to get to this level, and it will probably take years to fully address.”
If you're homeless and you're trying to get a job and not be homeless anymore, it's not as simple as just buying a house. You need a job to get a house, health insurance, and much more. For example, California has 114,000 homeless people, but the average rent in California is $1,750 which would be extremely hard for a homeless person to get (CalMatters). Homeless can get low income jobs which they would have to work all day just to be able to pay for rent. The homeless can go to homeless shelters as a short term option, but they kick you out after you've been there for a certain period of time. Another reason that many people are homeless is because they have some sort of mental illness. According to Forbes Health, the average price to get treatment is $100-200 per session which is too expensive for the majority of homeless. To get out of being homeless requires lots of money which is something that homeless people don't have much of.
Some people may say that being homeless is a choice, or why help the homeless at all when we could be using that money somewhere else? However, these negative ideas don’t help society in the long run, If we helped the homeless get jobs they would be helping the economy by working and paying back their debt. Some homeless already have, in 2023 more than 38,000 veterans are homeless because of their injuries or other issues. In once case, John Paul Dejora was given the opportunity to start his own hair and tequila company when he was given $700. This suggests that once homeless people are given the chance they can return the favor and create profit or be happy.
It's not that the government is ignoring the issue of homelessness. On the contrary, last year California spent 10 billion dollars to help more than 500,000 people. But after all of that funding many homeless still remain. What if instead of giving them a boost, they build a bunch of free apartments for the homeless and they can do jobs around there to be allowed to live there? For example, if a homeless person wants to live there they get free access to water and electricity but they have to for example be cooks and cook in the apartment or maintenance or work at a fast foods for free access to all of the things there. This would be effective because it can provide itself without help from outside, there would be a garden and they could pay a little to have water and electricity there.
Chris Gardner was a homeless man who lived on the roof of a public toilet. His life changed when he saw a guy driving a Ferrari and asked him what he did for a living. Showing interest in the rich man’s job, the homeless man he asked if he could join the business. He was given a job interview and he made it and was hired. Later there was a movie made about him which has inspired countless other people because he got a chance. Therefore, helping the homeless is essential not just because they can contribute back to the community, but because if they really want to get off of the streets they would work really hard to do so. To help the homeless we can give them all a chance to do something big.
