Long-Term Thinking
Many local people talk about the homeless issue surrounding USC. It’s bad. We all know it. But why hasn’t anyone done something about it? It’s a difficult issue to tackle but it’s plausible to fix. Many people, including myself, think more short term solutions. Whenever you see a homeless person I’m sure you have thought of buying them a sandwich, give them money or just donating to the local shelter. Unfortunately, none of these will actually permanently fix the problem. Our society needs to begin thinking about long term solutions, such as supportive housing. You see if we just give the homeless population a night ere and there in a shelter that’s fine, but we kick them out the next day and it’s back to the streets. Those people need more than just a night in a bed. In fact, a majority of the homeless population has a mental illness and needs to be treated properly.
Supportive housing has begun to make way in some cities. However, most don’t have the proper funding or infrastructure to develop these programs. These people need more help than the average American because there are critical reasons to why they are homeless. Giving them supportive housing would mean that they would have affordable housing with staff to help them through daily activities, such as finding a job and having good health. If you give them the proper tools to succeed then most of them could be contributors to society and get their lives back on track. Many of these people like I said are homeless for a reason. Many women and children are on the streets from domestic abuse and many military veterans are homeless because they suffer from a mental illness, like PTSD, and can’t sustain a job. These people are good people that want to work and contribute something to society.
An example of a typical case of homeless veteran is Karlene. She is a 35-year-old Army veteran who served as part of the post-9/11 war against terrorism. Karlene is a single parent, has three children, and the youngest two diagnosed with ADHD and other ongoing special needs. She herself has health issues, including hypertension and depression. While she has tried to provide for her family by working at Target, she still cannot afford her rent. She is among over 50,000 homeless veterans in the entire U.S. In addition, 1.4 million veterans are at risk of being homeless due to lack of a job, support networks, and illnesses. It is actually estimated that 20% of the veterans that served in Iraq suffer from some type of mental illness, like PTSD. Good people like this should not be out in a position where they have worked so hard to provide but it is still enough. If our society decides to begin thinking of long-term solutions and treat our homeless population correctly then the amount of homelessness would go way down. I believe we can do it, so I strongly urge everyone to begin realizing that what we are currently doing is no help.
