By Alex Faris
Introduction
It was a weekday during the pandemic, in the evening, and my cousins had just called me screaming with anger. “They just trashed the place and left it like that!” Says my cousin. I reply in a calm voice, “What?” “What are you saying?” “What happened?” “The toilet is broken! the carpet is torn out, some glass is broken, I don’t know what to do!” Said my cousin in an angry voice. I can tell she was very frustrated with the situation, but there was nothing she could do. This is just the beginning of the housing issue, and it’s worse during the Pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government allowed those who don’t have money to stay in apartments without paying. A lot of homeowners deal with this problem, and my cousins weren’t alone.
(This is some of the mess. This picture shows a bunch of garbage and dirt)
This is closely related to the homelessness problem within the United States. In fact, according to a New York Times article, they claim about 580,000 homeless people were living in the streets in 2020, but this number isn’t accurate (Thrush). However, even if it’s accurate or not, that’s still a large number. That’s not the half, for the past four years, the number of homeless people living on the streets has continued to rise (Thrush). That’s crazy! The number is only going to rise, and there has to be something done to help it. In this blog post, I’m going to show the importance of the homelessness problem in the United States, and my thoughts in regards to housing issues.
Potential Solution
In regards to the overwhelming number of homeless people in the United States, there has been a solution to the number of homeless people and it consists of more housing services. Furthermore, there are emergency shelters, transitional housing, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing (National Alliance to end Homelessness). These trends continually are increasing each year in the U.S. which is great. It provides a home for homeless people, and it needs to continue to happen in order to reduce the amount of homelessness. According to this same article, they explain that a Housing Choice Voucher Program has been the dominant form of housing (National Alliance to end Homelessness). The only reason it hasn’t been used more widely is that there’s a lack of assistance from the federal government (National Alliance to end Homelessness). This is shocking, there should be more help from the federal government because this is proven to help.
Another solution that could combat this issue is a proposal by Claire W. Herbert. Herbert did a study interviewing people who unlawfully use property in Detroit. For example, she interviewed squatters, scrapers, and people who used the property for gardens (Herbert, p. 240). Furthermore, this study found that inhabitants support the use of illegal property, and they see it as an embraced norm (Herbert, p. 236-237). Herbert called this norm an ethos of care, which means that the inhabitants demonstrate care to the property and community in order for their actions to be accepted (Herbert, p. 237). I completely agree with her proposal. If the property isn’t being used in the right way, and people want to use it to benefit them, that’s great. However, they have to prove that they deserve it, just like Herbert said about the ethos of care. It’s good to know that this is going in the right hands and that this property isn’t being wasted. On the contrary, we can use this for homeless people. If they want to illegally use property, they have to prove that they care about it. This would provide more shelter to homeless people, which is needed to solve the homeless problem.
Illnesses and Homelessness
In regards to illnesses associated with homelessness, it was reported in an assessment by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, that in 2015 there were 564,708 homeless people (Brain & Behavior). Of the 564,708 people, 140,000 or 25 percent were seriously mentally ill, and 250,000 had any mental illness (Brain & Behavior). This is astonishing! That’s a lot of people and the crazy part is that they cannot get the proper care they need because they don’t have the resources to do so. If the federal government was to help, in programs like the Housing Choice Voucher Program, they can help people get the proper care.
Family’s Experience with Housing
As I stated above, some of my cousins own apartments, and they’ve experienced terrible housing issues. This really started when the pandemic hit because people were granted the right to not pay rent if they couldn’t. They’ve experienced this many times, and every time it happens, they begin to get mad. I always get involved because I’m very close to them and they always ask me for advice. I’ve told them that there’s nothing they can do about it, but they still argue. It’s almost funny to me because it’s like talking to a wall, everything I tell them goes in one ear and out the other.
(The apartment was cleaned, and was worse than before. This picture shows a broken door with garbage behind it)
Looking from a sociological perspective, I can try to understand the emotions of the tenant and landlord. Firstly, I know that the landlord was not happy because I asked them. They were raged and filled with emotions, ranging from angry to surprised because they couldn’t understand why someone would do this. Especially when someone was getting the rent for free. I mean, the tenant didn’t even pay at all. As for the tenant, I can predict they were angry about the constant messages my cousins reminded them to pay rent. In fact, the tenant never replied which resulted in my cousins reminding them every day. This resulted in them trashing the place and not caring about the home.
Homelessness, Housing, and Well-Being
You may ask, what does well-being mean? Well, firstly, learning from this class, well-being to me is the state of someone’s feelings. Moreover, it’s how they currently feel, whether it be physical or emotional. In regards to housing, I had a conversation with my cousins, and I can tell their well-being was horrible. My cousins had emotionally been betrayed by the tenant because the tenant destroyed the place. As a result of this destruction, they were also angry and upset. Never did they see this coming, especially when the tenant was getting free rent. As for the tenant, I don’t know how they felt because I never met them personally. However, I can only predict how their well-being was. Therefore, I think they trashed the place because they may have been feeling angry at the homeowners, and took this anger out on the home.
In regards to the Homeless people, I can only predict how they felt for their well-being. I used to work at the Saturday market in downtown Portland, and I’d see a lot of homeless people. Based on my observations, I saw many of them happy, almost like they wanted to live on the street, while also many of them sad. For example, some had signs that said they needed money for food, or they just lost their house and needed money to help their family. On the other hand, many had signs asking for Marijuana, and I observed from this that they weren’t worried about living on the streets compared to those asking for money for their family.
(This is from the Unsplash website. Here, a homeless man is pictured with his sign)
Conclusion
As shown, I see the homeless problem as an issue that needs to be solved as soon as possible. I mean, just look at the numbers, in 2020 it was estimated to be about 580,000 people living on the streets (Thrush). This is insane! There are potential solutions like a housing service to provide a home for them or better yet, the proposal by Herbert. We can take her idea of people illegally using property, and give the homeless a chance to use it. However, as Herbert said, they need to prove they care for the community. This would provide shelter for the homeless people, and get them off the streets. Also, the housing issue is concerning as well. For example, people are trashing apartment complexes, and this hurt my cousins’ well-being due to their feelings. All and all, the homeless problem is a bit concerning given that it keeps rising each year, mental illnesses are not getting cured, and if this continues to happen, the number will only get larger.
Works Cited
Unsplash Picture
https://unsplash.com/photos/8UG90AYPDW4
New York Times Article
Thrush, G. (2021, March 18). Homelessness in U.S. Rose for 4th Straight Year, Report Says. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/us/politics/homelessness-coronavirus.html.
State of Alliance to End Homelessness
The State of Homelessness in America. National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2019, June 27). https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness-report-legacy/.
Claire Herbert
Guest Lecture
Brain & Behavior
Homelessness and Mental Illness: A Challenge to Our Society. Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. (2020, February 3). https://www.bbrfoundation.org/blog/homelessness-and-mental-illness-challenge-our-society#:~:text=According%20to%20a%202015%20assessment,percent%20had%20any%20mental%20illness.
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