by:Angelo Mauldin

The effect of Homelessness in Chicago

Did you know that almost 50,000 people a year enter a homeless shelters immediately after
incarceration(end homelessness.org).the reason for this is because after attaining a criminal
status it’s harder to get people that’ll sell you a house or rent one to you. Homeless struggle with
houses because of the lack of jobs that are willing to hire a felon or even a homeless
felon(citylab.com). Even worse people with multiple incarcerations have a higher chance of
becoming homeless compared to others with returning from only one prison
sentence(prisonpolicy.org). If the amount of homeless people in Chicago is related to the crime
rate and the inability to purchase a home post incarceration then we can find programs that help
felons find jobs and housing to create stability.

Today’s youth could be tomorrow’s homeless. The path that 2019’s youth is going with small
locks ups in juvenile detention centers could lead to a future on the street. The cause for this
increase is the popularization of “marijuana” and “pill popping”. Things like Xanax and Molly
have come to be very popular among youth because of the amount of famous rappers that pop
these pills on a daily basis in videos or on social media. But prior to this new unnoticed epidemic
is the amount of minors receiving misdemeanors for crimes that they might see as small or
unnoticeable but most become repeat offenders and create a record for themselves. The
charges that some of Chicago’s youth accumulate can cause issues with purchasing or renting
a house in the future because of some of their uncivilized behavior people will be quick to
decline renting to them.

Senior citizens with criminal records can see harder times finding housing compared to youth
mainly because at such an old age with a record it’s nearly impossible to find a job that could fill
support a seniors needs let alone keep them financially stable. Crimes committed at a younger
age can cause you to lose housing at an older age.

Did you know that you can be declined housing if you’re a repeat offender or have a Specific set
of crimes on your record. Homelessness in this case is inevitable being a minority only raises
the chances that you’ll be declined due to the u.s being in the social and racially biased state it’s
been in for centuries. There are programs that can increase your chances of finding housing but
depending on the severity of your crime you can be declined assistance. Most felons will even
try looking for private housing but depending on your record and what crime you committed you
can still be denied

If the amount of homeless is related to incarceration and having a felon status then we can see
programs that were already created in order for felons to have jobs that create stability
especially one time offenders. Most people often seek these programs out during their
sentence. We can create programs that push homeless individuals into working stable
environments that help them keep and find jobs.