SOME Help to the Homeless Essay -- Essays Papers

SOME Help to the Homeless Every year approximately 2.3 to 3.5 million people go homeless in the United States of America. Twelve million adults in the US were homeless in the year 2001, or are still currently without a permanent home (â€Å"Homelessness in the U.S.†). How does this happen in â€Å"the land of opportunity?† We think of ourselves as one of the greatest nations in the world, yet citizens are living a life of poverty, often without food, clothing, and shelter. When most people think of fighting homelessness, they think of providing medical assistance, showers, and counseling services for those who suffer mental illness, trauma, and substance abuse. Although these necessities are imperative in helping a significant portion of the homeless, they do not eliminate the problem of homelessness because they fail to focus on the structural obstacles, such as income inequality among different social classes and the lack of low-income housing. These impediments are at the ve ry core of the issue. The Washington D.C. based organization So Others Might Eat (SOME) is a highly successful advocate for the eradication of homelessness in its attention to individual problems, such as illness and abuse; however, the organization fails to provide a permanent solution to the problem of homelessness because it does not fully overcome the structural causes of this social crisis. Homeless scholar Talmadge Wright explains that the homeless are victims of the â€Å"previously established notions† that influential members of society bestow on the less fortunate (5). Persuasive officials, mass media, and people of the upper class have the power to influence the community into accepting certain characteristics as normal... ...March 20, 2002. Kraljic, Matthew A. The Homeless Problem. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1992. Laymon, Kiese. â€Å"What Invisibility Sees.† April 10, 2002. . Moller, Sean. Personal interview. 18 April. 2002. â€Å"Salaries for Selected Occupations.† April 16, 2002. . â€Å"President George W. Bush and HUD Secretary Mel Martinez Visit SOME to Emphasize the Importance of Giving.† SOME News Winter 2002. â€Å"What Causes Homelessness?† March 20, 2002. . Wolf, Stephen M. â€Å"A Vicious Cycle.† US Airways Attachà © Feb. 2002. Wright, Talmadge. Out of Place: Homeless Mobilizations, Subcities, and Contested Landscapes. Albany: State University of New York, 1997.