Rosas 1

Paola Rosas
Professor Gail Taylor
English 1A
3 March 2015
Life in the Streets
Homelessness in the United States has increased in the past decade, even more since the
economy crashed a few years ago. It is a problem not only for the homeless but also for everyone
else. People who do not have a home or anyone to support them have to live in the streets asking
for money from other people who sometimes get angry at them. Because for everyone else who
is not in that situation they can seem to come up with a solution to end homelessness; get a job.
Living in the streets is not only sad, it is dangerous; homeless have to hide at night from thieves
and other homeless who want to take the little they have. The issue is that today instead of trying
to help the homeless, the government is creating laws so the homeless cannot stay in certain
areas, apart from the stereotypes they already have, limiting their chance of comfort and
safeness, and no one cares to help.
It is an issue worth studying about and trying to find solutions for, because everyone has
the right to a satisfactory life. There is a problem in American society. People are individualistic,
therefore, everyone just takes care of themselves and good luck to anyone behind. Times are
getting rough for everyone, there are too many people in the world and it takes away
opportunities from others, but everyone should have enough to eat and feel safe. Furthermore,
working to create a better environment and society is the best for everyone.

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Homeless face adversity every day they are in the street. In California there are homeless
in almost every city, if not in all. Los Angeles is the second city in the U.S. with the most people
without a home, although California is the state with the most homeless. Evidence Farida Ali
states the percent of people on the street in California:
The problem of homelessness is particularly acute in California. California has the largest
homeless population in the United States, representing almost 21% of the nation's
homeless. California is also one of two states that together have thirteen of twenty-four
U.S. cities with homeless rates higher than the national average. (Ali)
We can see this issue every day in California, mostly in public places and around shopping
centers. But what does this mean? It means that most of the people who immigrate from other
countries or from other parts of the country still seek the American Dream. The Golden State
represents opportunity, but now people are stuck because too many people means less
opportunities. That is why living in this state is so expensive and so many people lose their
homes.
People who live on streets are often looked down upon. Many normal people (those
who do have a home) think that the homeless are dangerous because they are dirty or old and
dirty. Discrimination is part of the reason why homeless cannot get back on their feet and begin
again. Another reason is because civil rights are being violated such as the right to vote, because
homeless have no address, thus they cannot vote. In the article The Right to a Decent Life by
Barbara Dority she writes [] it is also virtually impossible to apply for a job without an
address or phone. Thus, permanent housing, not temporary shelters, should always be the
ultimate goal of government policy (Dority 28-30). Civil rights are designed to protect

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individuals freedom and make them a part of the community. Without these basic entitlements
integrating back in society is very difficult (apart from the fact that breaking the Civil Rights is a
felony).
Not only are Civil Rights being perpetrated, but also Human Rights. As stated in Article 7
of the United Nations Human Rights All are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any
discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination
(UDHR). Furthermore we know that by creating laws and policies that prevent homeless from
being in certain public places where non-homeless can be, is discrimination. Therefore the
government is violating human rights only for those who do not want to be near homeless
people. Yet the people in charge of the publics safety air to think that appearance should be
taken care of first and after comes helping citizens.
There is a problem with the security of the homeless who are alone and families who
cannot fend for themselves. During the day there are sometimes about three people in the same
street asking for money. Although, when it is dark we barely see any of them because they hide
from the dangers of the night. Many risks for homeless exist during the day which are mostly
cops who detain them for being alive (basically). But at night, the threat is everywhere and
everyone. Do to the limited areas were dispossessed people can reside sometimes they usually
find the same places to spend the night. This is not convenient sometimes because there are
criminals who take away the little to nothing that homeless have and also abuse them for no
reason. Because there are barely any places allowed for them to be.

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Laws and regulations to keep homeless from sleeping, begging, sitting or lying down in
public spaces, among other activities is a waste of time and money. A report by the National Law
Center on Homelessness & Poverty shows Criminalization strategies not only cost cities
millions in wasted resources, they also fail to address the root causes of homelessness. Arrests,
incarceration, fines, and convictions prolong homelessness by creating new, sometimes nearly
insurmountable barriers to obtaining employment and stable housing (NLCHP). Meaning,
creating these strategies is useless and harmful. Many homeless actually have jobs and they are
still homeless because the money they make is spent on buying practical things they need. If a
homeless were to break the law by sleeping in a public place where it is prohibited (even in
during the day time) they could be charged by the police making them miss work and risk losing
it. So what is the law doing in favor of the homeless? Not much.
Many people in the street are not alone. There are families, sometimes single mothers or
fathers with their children who cannot continue going to school because of their situation.
Circumstances like taking care of younger siblings, no transportation, and even no shower or
where to clean up can prevent these children from going to school. When kids stop going to
school they are losing opportunities for a better future. Youth without education should not be
permitted. The education system should have as a priority to get in school every kid they can.
Just like every government organization should have as one of its priorities to end homelessness.
Shelters are not an absolute solution to eradicating homelessness, they are just temporal. People
in the street need a permanent home. In order for improvement and real help for the homeless the
cost of housing (that is renting or buying a house) needs to lower or at least a strategical payment
plan needs to be created for those who cannot pay from the beginning. In the U.S. there are more
unused houses than there are homeless. A plan as simple as sorting vacant houses/apartments or

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any other residential place that a person could pay with at least the minimum wage in a
determined amount of time of working could go a long way. It would provide homes for people,
jobs for disadvantaged, jobs for realtors and improve the economy. For sure it may be not as
simple as that but we have to begin somewhere.
There are situations when parents let go of their children so they do not have the
misfortune of living in the street. It is tragic how people stay without a home and without a
family. Although some homeless keep their pets for company because pets will always be loyal
and they do not know about money. Even though they may still be a burden because pets need to
be fed and it is difficult enough for a person to obtain food, still they find a way to care for their
pets. Sometimes those pets help us realize that homeless are still people who feel and need a
hand, and they also need a home.
A video by Rethink Homelessness in YouTube makes people realize that homeless had a
life before being homeless, and that they are people struggling who need help. The video is
called Cardboard Stories Homeless in Orlando and it shows small details about homeless people,
some examples are I am homeless and I DO have a Job/ IVE SAVED AT LEAST 3 LIVES/ Me
And My Son Escaped Domestic Violence/ I have a degree in Biology from West Virginia
University/ I surrendered my kids to save them from Homelessness. Small details like those can
remind everyone that you can have an education and be homeless, you can be a hero and be
homeless, and you can risk your life escaping from an abusive home and be looked down upon
for being homeless. People like this do not deserve to be on the street no matter the reason that
led them there, sometimes people do not have a choice, and sometimes people make mistakes.

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The problem goes back to the government. Instead of creating solutions for people to
have a decent live they just sweep the problems under the matt. In Shunting the Homeless from
Sight by the Editorial Board of the New York Times they argue What local governments are
facing or rather not facing is the continuing effects of a recession that has driven desperate
people from their homes and jobs in ways that have become all too public in the eyes of
politicians and their constituents (Editorial Board). The statement implies that the reality of the
United States economic condition is grave. This comes from other issues like cheap hand labor
in other countries, tax rates for companies, people wanting things handed to them without
working, among others. But whoever wants to accomplish something will work for it; there is
always something to do; some people just need a hand to get started.
By all accounts, homelessness is a problem that has a solution, and that solution could
bring results for related problems. If homeless stop being criminalized for eating, sleeping, lying
down and being alive positive solutions will come to be. Homeless are people just like anyone
else, they have feelings, the get sick, and they want a home, helping to give them a home is
ultimately the only way to creating a better society and the real way of getting rid of homeless.
The solution is in the name homelessness, just take away the lessness and create solutions to
have homes. We need to attack homelessness not homeless people.

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Works Cited
Ali, Farida. "Limiting the Poor's Right to Public Space: Criminalizing Homelessness in
California." LexisNexis. Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy, Spring 2014. Web.
01 Mar. 2015. <https://litigationessentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?
action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&doctype=cite&docid=21%2BGeo.%2BJ.
%2BPoverty%2BLaw%2B%26%2BPol%27y
%2B197&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&key=24b0c600bcb6ac129997e5f6872189b9>.
"Cardboard Stories | Homeless in Orlando." YouTube. Rethink Homelessness, 26 June 2014.
Web. 02 Mar. 2015. <http://youtu.be/THxtcWNw3QA>.
Dority, Barbara. "The Right to a Decent Life." Humanist 53.3 (1993): 28-30. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 19 Feb. 2015
Editorial Board. "Shunting the Homeless From Sight." The New York Times. The New
York Times, 16 July 2014. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/opinion/Shunting-the-Homeless-FromSight.html>.
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. NO SAFE PLACE: The Criminalization of
Homeless in U.S. Cities. Rep. N.p., 2014. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.nlchp.org/documents/No_Safe_Place>.
"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, Declaration of Human Rights,
Human Rights Declaration, Human Rights Charter, The UN and Human Rights." UN
News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml>.