Garrett Johnson

November 4, 2014
CIS 110

Imagine never knowing where your next meal is coming from, being cold and hungry as people
walk by you. You dont know where you will be sleeping, or if you will be safe. Begging for money just to
get by, but getting more judgmental looks than help. Homelessness is a becoming a serious issue in our
society that people need to be educated about in order to help all those affected. After people read this
paper, I want them to walk away with a better understanding of the causes of homelessness, issues that
homeless people face daily, a better understanding of ways to help and assist, and overall a better
understanding of this culture that so many Americans find themselves living in. Also, after learning
about this community I wanted to gain a better understanding into the different parts of being
homeless, learn how I can help, and have a new insight into a community that I see almost every day but
have never actually taken the time to learn about.
Many assumptions are made about what causes people to become homeless, but the truth is
that no two cases are exactly the same. The stereotype is that people become homeless because they
are too lazy to work, they have a drug addiction, or they are uneducated. After conducting interviews
with people from a homeless shelter I was able to find out that those stereotypes could not be further
from the truth. I found that many homeless people still have jobs; they just do not make enough to
support themselves and rely on help from the government. One man I interviewed, named Paul
Douglass, said that that the biggest change in his life before and now when he was homeless was day-today activities. Paul was in the army and fell on hard times eventually leading to being homeless. Paul
said, the hardest part of being homeless is trying to dig himself out of this hole. He wanted to get a
job, but no one wants to hire a homeless person.

The daily life of a homeless person might be quite different than peoples expectations. Honestly
there are people that are homeless that work very hard, but different factors hold many of them back.
For example a man might have been working for years and one day his boss walks up to him and says
that his salary must be reduced because they cannot afford to pay him that amount anymore. His job
requires overtime so looking for another job is almost impossible. Eventually he cannot pay all his bills.
He already rides the bus because buying a car is too expensive. This recent turn of events is devastating
because the feeling of hopelessness starts to attach itself to the mind. So homelessness depends a lot on
the status of the economy. The rising costs of housing and the failure to begin construction of new
affordable housing areas for the poor plays a big part of causing someone to be put on the street. That is
how many stories begin, but that is just scratching at the surface of problem. The problem of
homelessness cannot be pinned down to one thing. I know that the state of the economy, drugs,
violence, home life, family factors, natural disasters, lack of an education, laziness, and many other facts
are what people try to label and categorize homeless ness. It cant be labeled to one thing and through
this paper I learned about the maybe different causes and how often times it is a combination of many
of them.
There are so many factors that contribute to someone becoming homeless, out of work, and
forcing people to give up hope. For example having a mental illness, or becoming handicapped. Any
person can be born with a mental illness; in other instances it can come on later in life. Because mental
illness is seen as a weakness in the workplace it is hard to obtain or continue a job. Having a mental
illness is not a disease but people make it out to be. Being classified as mentally ill can be because of an
accident or a family condition. But there is no sympathy in the work world. According to an online
journal I found Triggers most often start in childhood. It is the combination of problems that compound
the situation where homelessness can occur (Phillips, p. 45). This is saying that a person does not just
become homeless; it is a long process to actually get to that process. In my interview with Rebecca Price

from a Lexington homeless shelter she said, The majority of people we see here are hard workers that
have just come across a hard time. People often ask me the number one cause I see for people to be
homeless, but there is not just one. Its an accumulation of many things (Price, 2014). After learning
about this community just a little bit more, it seems like to me, if we know some of the probable causes
there should be something more we can do to help. When I went to the homeless shelter I found that
these people are so much more than a label. I enjoyed hearing all of the stories they shared and learning
about their lives. If I could sum up the most important thing I learned about this community in one
thought, it is dont judge. I heard so many stories from those who are homeless and talked to people
who are around this community all the time, and I can tell you that no two stories are the same. Things
happen in peoples lives that could just as easily happen to anyone in this room that have caused them
to be homeless and I learned that a little compassion can go a long way.
Natural disasters can happen at any time and are another cause of homelessness. Hurricane
Katrina for example was a disaster that affected millions. Over a million were made homeless. That is
not the only time a disaster caused destruction, ruining lives and taking away homes causing people to
become homeless. Hurricane Katrina brought national attention to this issue when thousands of people
were displaced and FEMA, which is the Federal Emergency Management Agency had to step in and help.
I remember watching things on the news about this I wondered what FEMA does to help and how that
related on a smaller scale to what the two homeless shelters I interviewed do. I read that the most
effective characteristics of programs to help in these situations are high intensity, high quality,
responsive, and comprehensive (McNamara, 2008). I compared this to my interview with Emily in
Chicago and she said although they havent had a disaster on the same scale as Hurricane Katrina, she
sees that fast responsiveness and a comprehensive approach help them when it gets below zero and
homeless people need immediate assistance during the cold winters in the North. She said that every
spring they sit down as a team and evaluate how effective their assistance was the previous winter and

make an action plan about how to battle the next year. Being from Florida, this is something that I can
especially relate to. I was at home when Hurricane Charlie came through Orlando Florida in 2004. My
family and friends were all okay, but the destruction that came to my community really shook me up.
There was nothing that anyone could have done to prevent it, but they still had to deal with the
consequences. I was out of school for a couple weeks, we lost power, and everyone around me was
scared. It was a situation that was completely out of our hands, but the people in my community had to
fix the problems they were left with. After learning about the homeless community, I found a lot of
similarities between this and my life. I learned how quickly your world can change and how sometime it
is out of your control. I think this is something that people need to keep in mind when they see a
homeless person; maybe that person had no control of their circumstances and are trying to make the
best of the cards they have been dealt.
Another factor than can affect this community is domestic violence. What I didnt realize was
this causes homelessness for men and women. This is because if women are in an abusive relationship
they are forced to leave and start over with nothing, but on the other hand if a man goes to jail for
domestic violence often times he can end up homeless after being released. According to an interview
with Emily Smith, I work at a predominately womens shelter and domestic violence is definitely a large
problem for our women. After talking to Emily, I realized that sometimes these women are faced with a
decision to give up their home, everything they own, and their security just to get out of a violent
situation. In this case, I view their choice to give up everything, which can make them to become
homeless, as a very strong choice. I have so much respect for these women. When I was thinking about
this, I dont know if I could do it. They are very strong and brave for this. I tried to interview some
women who had gone through this situation, but it was too sensitive of a topic for many people to open
up about.

For me, the most interesting part of this project was learning how homeless people really have
their own sense of community and culture. I would have never expected to see this as strongly as I did
when I went to the homeless shelter in Lexington to do the interview. I cannot put into words how much
of a community atmosphere I saw. I casually asked a man that I was standing beside if it was always like
this, and he said, Yes, these people are the only family I have. I had always thought of homelessness as
a very isolating and individual struggle, but I found that many people bond together and take care of
each other. They really are their own community with their own culture. Many of the people have
traditions that they follow, from simple stuff like eating with the same people every Sunday dinner, to
Christmas traditions that they follow every year. It goes beyond just this though; they protect each other
like a family does and are there for each other no matter what.
Personally, I enjoyed learning about this community but it was important for me to learn about
how I could help them. When I interviewed people at the homeless shelter I asked them ways that
people can help them out and I was really surprised by their answers. I was expecting to hear giving
money. The most common thing I heard was just being nice and making conversation. Asking someone
about their day can really turn peoples mood around. One man that I was talking to said that they are
normal people are it hurts when people on the streets stare and make judgments. He was a big sports
fan and most shelters where he stayed showed the games so even people just asking him if he caught
the game can turn his day around. Other people around us during the interview chimed in and said that
people simply asking how someones day is going or just smiling was enough to show that you cared. I
know that after learning about this community and talking to these people I will certainly do these easy
steps that it takes to make someones day just a little bit better. When I interviewed both Rebecca and
Emily who work at homeless shelters in Lexington and Chicago they both said that winter is the hardest,
because people who would normally be comfortable staying outside have to come in because of the
freezing cold. Emily, who works in Chicago, said The number one way people can help in the winter is

by donating blankets so that we can give them to people after they have to leave here (Smith, 2014). I
took this as a personal challenge, and I challenge everyone else I know to go just a little bit above and
beyond and help out this community.
Homelessness is big issue but like all problems there are ways to solve them. Like I said before it is not
money that people who are homeless want, it is a chance to start a new life. Just helping a person to get
a fresh start with some resources like leads on job openings, preparing them for interviews, and maybe
buying them nice new clothes for the interviews are a couple ways to help. Finding them a place to live
and helping with the first couple payments of rent so they can start getting into their new life is a start
as well, so they can get into the habit of supporting themselves. There are other homeless shelters than
implement these solutions. The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Is a
state agency in charge of public housing, rental assistance programs, fuel assistance, homelessness
prevention, community development, and other state and federally funded anti-poverty programs.
(Shelters and Transitional Programs: General Information) There are also shelters that have transitional
programs that also help people find housing and live independently.

Sources

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Mago, V. K., Morden, H. K., Fritz, C., Wu, T., Namazi, S., Geranmayeh, P., & ... Dabbaghian,V.
(2013). Analyzing the impact of social factors on homelessness: a Fuzzy Cognitive Map
approach. BMC Medical Informatics & Decision Making, 13(1), 1-19. doi:10.1186/14726947-13-94
McNarma, R.L. (2008). Homelessness in America. Westport: Praeger
Philipps, Kaitlin, "Homelessness: Causes, Culture and Community Development as a Solution"
(2012). Pell Scholars and Senior Theses.
Paper88.http://digitalcommons.salve.edu/pell_theses/88
Price, R. (2014, October 11). Personal Interview.
Shelters and Transitional Programs: General Information. Shelters and Transitional Programs in
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Smith, E. (2014, October 4). Phone Interview.