Running head: FINAL PAPER HOMELESSNESS 1

Final Paper Homelessness

Judith Brusseau
SW 3710
Wayne State University

Running Head: FINAL PAPER HOMELESSNESS

Abstract
Who are the homeless? People who are homeless are the poorest of the poor. A homeless
individual is likely to come from poor or impoverished backgrounds. A lot of homeless people
have prior imprisonment and/or have some sort of addiction or mental issue but it is not always
the case. They can sometimes be in some type of poor physical health. They have no address.
They sometimes live in cars, if they can afford one. They sometimes live in a tent, or a
makeshift shelter made from blankets, wood or cardboard. Some just move from one area to the
next, sleeping in county or city shelters at night. They may be forced to sleep on the sidewalk,
behind some brush or under a bridge. Homeless individuals lack the resources needed to lead a
productive life. Homelessness can happen to just about anyone.

Running Head: FINAL PAPER HOMELESSNESS

Final Paper Homelessness

Homelessness, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is The state or condition
of having no home, especially the state of living on the streets. An estimated 250,000 to
3,000,000 Americans are homeless at any given time and a significant number on homeless
people regularly live on the streets because they lack stable shelter. (Somlai, Kelly, Wag,
Witsome, 1998)
In L. Goodmans book, The Relationship Between Social Support and Family
Homelessness, (1991) it states that there are three general types of homeless people. There are
permanent wanderers, wanderers with a fixed base and refugees, for whom homelessness is an
accident and not a way of life. The book also tells us that When social support is lacking,
families who are vulnerable to homelessness may be left without a critical safety net to catch
them before they lose their permanent housing that causes them to become homeless.
Homelessness is the most extreme form of social exclusion and it is a strong indicator of social
injustice in any society. Individuals become excluded when various factors prevent or limit
their ability and opportunity to participate in mainstream society. (Goodman, et al., 1991)
When an individual becomes homeless, they are exposing themselves to a variety of
social difficulties that may cause further harm to them. Some of the elements that work against
them include the possibility of exposure to HIV, drug use, crime and violence. (Letiecq,
Anderson, Koblinsky, 1991) Listed below are facts about how each of these issues can have an
effect on a homeless individual:
HIV. During the past several years, there has been increasing recognition that the threat of
HIV infection is disproportionately high among homeless adults and adolescents and that the
homeless population is extremely vulnerable to HIV infection. (Letiecq et al., 1991)

Running Head: FINAL PAPER HOMELESSNESS

Drug use. Many individuals with substance abuse problem face multiple barriers to
accessing housing while suffering from addiction as many shelters require sobriety to access
their services and they are screened out of public housing. (Speiglman, Green, 2002) Chronic
homelessness is associated with alcohol and illicit substance abuse. Being without a stable place
during substance abuse recovery only increases the likelihood that these treatments will fail.
(Substance Abuse Issue, 2012) It was hypothesized that homeless persons are arrested more
frequently for less serious crimes than housed persons and are more likely to be involved with
drugs, but not receiving any drug treatment. (Speiglman et al., 2002)
Crime. Not surprisingly, the police typically find themselves held responsible for
problems caused by the homeless. To add to this problem, they also find themselves without
adequate tools and resources to address these problems. (Speiglman, et al., 2002) Adoption of
laws and policies that punish homeless people rather than addressing the problems that cause
homelessness is an ineffective approach. (Speiglman, et al., 2002) Penalizing people for
engaging in innocent behavior, such as sleeping in public, sitting on the sidewalk or begging,
will not reduce the occurrence of these activities. (Brown, 1999) It also will not keep homeless
people out of public spaces when they have no alternative place to sleep or sit. Punishing
homeless people for unavoidable activities is not only futile, it is inhumane. (Brown, 1999)
Violence. In reference to violence, findings strongly suggest that the homeless do not
pose a serious or dangerous threat to society. (Brown, 1999) Instead, the homeless tend to
belong more to a class of vulnerable people than to one of hard-core habitual offenders. (Blasi,
1992) Many crimes that homeless people commit are non-violent nuisance offenses such as
panhandling. (Blasi, et al., 1992) When city ordinances, such as anti-panhandling legislations

Running Head: FINAL PAPER HOMELESSNESS

make these activities more difficult, homeless people sometimes escalate to more serious crimes
that include theft or breaking and entering. (New Insights on Homeless and Violence, 2009)
There is an abundance of homeless people that have some degree of mental illness.
According to an article in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a study of people with serious
mental illnesses seen by Californias public mental health systems found that 15% were
homeless at least once in a one-year period. (Folsom, Hawthorne, Lindamer, Gilmer, Baily,
Golshan, Garcia, Unutzer, Hough, Jeste, 2005) The article goes on to talk about how serious
mental illnesses disrupt peoples ability too carry out essential aspects of daily life such as self
care and household management. It also states that mental illnesses may also prevent people
from forming and maintaining stable relationships or causes people to misinterpret others
guidance and react irrationally. This often results in pushing away caregivers, family, and friends
who may be the force keeping that person from becoming homeless. As a result of these factors
and the stresses of living with a mental disorder, people with mental illnesses are much more
likely to become homeless than the general population (Library Index, 2009)
According to an article written by J. Zlotnik, called Preparing the Workforce for FamilyCentered Practice, (1998) The experience of homelessness can have a devastating and life-long
impact on a child. Because of this, children who are homeless sometimes have a difficult time
being properly educated. The article continues to say that Compared to their peers, homeless
children are more likely to be sick, have learning difficulties and encounter stressful and
traumatic experiences. When a child is homeless, there is devastating impact on educational
outcome for that student. The article also states that When students changes school frequently,
it is difficult for both parents and educators to correctly identify a childs needs and that can
create improper placement of a child, which leads to academic difficulties. There are other

Running Head: FINAL PAPER HOMELESSNESS

factors that can prevent students from getting the best education possible. These factors can
include a lack of transportation, little or no access to the internet, medical records that are not
updated and a mix-up of paperwork, which makes it hard for a student to get a good education.
(Ziotnik, 1998) All of these reasons create issues that can make it nearly impossible for a child
to attend school effectively and efficiently. (Julianelle, Foscarinis, 2003) Students who
experience homelessness also have a problem with poor nutrition, inadequate health care, a
higher exposure to violence and emotional stress. (Baker, 2002)
Everybody in a community that has homelessness is affected by the problem. In S.
Chamards book, Homeless Encampments (2010), it states that Community residents, business
owners, community service workers, and homeless individuals themselves deal on a daily basis
with the devastating impacts of homelessness on the health and vitality of the individuals and the
communities. Chamard also writes that The effect that the homeless has on others around
them is quite significant. In the past decade, cities have increasingly moved toward enacting and
enforcing laws that specifically criminalize homelessness in response to their concern about the
use of public space. and Cities enact and enforce these criminal laws as "quick-fix" solutions
to remove homeless people from sight, rather than addressing the underlying causes of
homelessness. This criminalization trend has been documented in reports by the National Law
Center on Homelessness & Poverty since 1991. The longer someone is unsheltered and
chronically homeless, the more involved he or she becomes in criminal behavior such as
panhandling, street peddling, and theft. Many researchers have argued that the high rates of
arrest and low-level offending by the chronically homeless are results of the criminalization of
homelessness. (Chamard, 2010)

Running Head: FINAL PAPER HOMELESSNESS

Panhandling, a common term in the United States, can also be referred to as begging.
Generally, there are two types of panhandling, passive and aggressive. (Bowen, 2010) Passive
panhandling is soliciting without threat or menace, often without any words exchanged at alljust
a cup or a hand held out. (Bowen, 2010) Aggressive panhandling is soliciting coercively, with
actual or implied threats, or menacing actions. In many jurisdictions, panhandling is not even
illegal. (Bowen, 2010) Even where it is illegal, police usually tolerate passive panhandling.
Police can reasonably conclude that their time is better spent addressing more serious problems.
(Bowen, 2010)
In order to keep city streets clean, larger cities in the United States are cleaning up major
areas where the homeless tend to gather so that they can get the homeless out of their area. In
order to do so, they are cutting overgrown brush, so the homeless cannot hide behind it, setting
up sprinkler systems so that the homeless will not camp in an area that will get them wet and
they are also removing park benches. Some cities have also reduced the number of port-apotties, since this attracts the homeless and they are also smashing up stranded grocery carts, too.
Another way cities are making an attempt to clean up their streets are to run sweeps that clean up
homeless encampments and throw all of their belongings away so that they move to another area.
Certain organizations are calling this treatment inhumane and are lobbying for better treatment of
the homeless. The impact of the homeless on current social issues can be not only stressful for
the homeless, but for citizens as well. Being homeless means that they are not a contributing
force in mainstream society. Their social exclusion brings forth many problems for them.
Families experiencing homelessness are under a lot of stress. The National Center for
Family Homelessness mentions that homeless families move frequently and many are doubledup in overcrowded apartments with relatives or friends. Others sleep in cars and campgrounds or

Running Head: FINAL PAPER HOMELESSNESS

send their children to stay with relatives to avoid shelter life. It goes on to say that once they are
in a shelter, families must quickly adjust to overcrowded, difficult, and uncomfortable
circumstances. Despite the efforts of dedicated staff, many shelters are noisy, chaotic, and lack
privacy. (NCFH n.d.)

Homelessness increases the likelihood that families will separate or

dissolve, which may compound the stress the family feels. (Christenson, Fine, 1979)
Economically speaking, being homeless costs taxpayers a very large amount of money.
In the Social Service Review, an article written by G. Blasi in 1991, it states that The root cause
of homelessness can largely be explained by economics. People who become homeless have
insufficient financial resources to obtain or maintain housing. This is especially the case for 83
percent of the homeless population who experience episodic, transitional, or temporary periods
of homelessness. It also mentions that Although families and some individuals may find
themselves in homeless shelters for relatively short periods of time due to an economic or
personal crisis, it is the long-term, chronic homeless population that runs up significant costs.
These costs include hospitalization and emergency room visits, police intervention and
incarceration, and use of mental health, poverty and homeless programs. (Cassidy, n.d.) There is
a strong case for intervening early rather than deferring substantive help until problems become
acute. (Flaming, Matsunga, Burns, 2009)
The effect that the homeless has on the environment is quite devastating. In Chamards
Homeless Encampments, we also learn that inadequate human waste disposals at large
encampments along rivers can pose a hazard to the water supply of nearby communities. It also
talks about how fires can start very easily in these encampments and how residents of homeless
encampments turn to wood stoves and campfires for heat and cooking. If left unattended, these
fires can become out of control and burn down camp structures and injure people. Chamard goes

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on to talk about other social issues that are controversial and that issue a larger set of problems.
These problems involve public intoxication, panhandling, loitering, trespassing and drug dealing.
Communities want to clean up the areas where homeless individuals move in so that these issues
are dramatically reduced. (Chamard, 2010)
According to the National Alliance of Homelessness in America 2013, A number of
demographic groups have an increased risk of homelessness, including poor households that are
living in doubled-up situations, poor single-person households, and poor family households with
only one adult present. Between 2010 and 2011, all but 11 states reported an increase in the
number of poor people living in doubled-up households. Nationally, there was a 9.4% increase.
At the national level, there was an almost 6% increase in the number of poor single-person
households. In 2011, 12.9% of all households living in poverty were comprised of a single
person. More than one-half of the households living in poverty were family households with a
single adult present. The number of these households increased by almost 6% between 2010 and
2011. (NAHA, 2013)
Homelessness in American can be traced back as early as the 1800s. Since the mid1800s the word homeless has had a long and complex use. In its most literal meaning of
houseless, it was to describe those who sleep outdoors or in various makeshifts or who reside in
temporary accommodations such as police-station lodgings of earlier generations or emergency
shelters. (Oher, 2012) The Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol and Addictive Behavior talks about
the nineteenth century, where to be homeless was to be unattached, outside this web of support
and control; it was to be without critical resources and equally important, beyond constructive
restraint. By the 1840s many Americans linked homelessness with habitual drunkenness. In the
popular view, habitual drunkards, usually men, drank up their wages and impoverished their

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families by losing their jobs and their houses. (Marks, 2007) They became outcasts and drifters,
and their wives entered poorhouses while their children became inmates of orphanages. By the
1890s some individuals were on a downward spiral of opiate and cocaine use and this addiction
rendered many families homeless. (Cohen, 2013) Until the early years of the Great Depression,
which began in 1929, habitual drunkenness, in particular, was often cited as a principal cause of
homelessness. (Cohen, 2013) A lot of these were men were heavy drinkers, and some habitual
drug users. These problems often developed in the context of poverty and rootlessness, even
during the Prohibition years (19201933) when alcohol was illegal. (Cohen, et al.) During the
Depression, it was widely feared that tens of thousands of homeless young people in the United
States would be maimed hopping freights and by learning bad habits on the road, they would
transform them into lifelong tramps. (Cohen, et al.) The amount of homeless people lessened
when World War II started. When it ended, homelessness re-emerged as a significant problem in
many cities. Much of them were veterans of the war. Homelessness would have continued to
affect a lot of vets but because of the GI Bill and an economic upturn in the United States, a lot of
vets were spared. During the 1950s, most homeless people were older, white, alcoholic men
associated with the rundown sections of cities known as skid rows. Throughout the 1950s and
1960s homelessness dropped significantly and there was talk that homelessness may be
diminished by the 1970s. (Cohen, et al.) Chronic homelessness first gained widespread attention
in the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s. A major cause of its increased frequency
was the de-institutionalization movement designed to get the mentally ill out of institutions and
into community settings. For a variety of reasons, including lack of funding, many people ended
up homeless instead. During the 1990s, a second wave of homeless people appeared in shelters:
families who couldn't afford the skyrocketing cost of housing and the homeless population ticked

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steadily upward. (Marks, 2007)

Historically, homelessness was seen as a moral deficiency, a character flaw. (History of
Homelessness in America, 2011) It was generally believed that a good Christian, under Gods
grace, would naturally have their needs met. (History, et al., 2011) People outside of that grace
somehow were deserving of their plight as God rendered justice accordingly and fairly. (History,
et al., 2011) Today, those experiencing homelessness has nothing to do with a persons intrinsic
worth. (History, et al., 2011) Homelessness is a complex social issue with many variables.
(History, et al., 2011) Unfortunately, for those experiencing homelessness, the impact of the
values historically are still pervasive. (History, et al., 2011) In America many still hold to this
tenet, that one only needs to pick themselves up by their bootstraps and into the pursuit of the
American dream and for those who cannot, they deserve to be destitute for they bring no added
value to society. (History et al., 2011)
According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Ending homelessness
requires housing combined with the types of services supported by HHS programs. It also adds
that The delivery of treatment and services to persons experiencing homelessness is included in
the activities of the Department in five programs specifically targeted to homeless individuals and
their families. These programs include:
Health Care for the Homeless. Health care for the homeless has increased dramatically in
recent years. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), when fully implemented in 2014, will
make virtually all homeless and at-risk citizens eligible for Medicaid, the state- administered
health care program for low-income people. The Medicaid expansion will cover as many as 16
million people who now lack health insurance; under new eligibility rules, nearly all chronically
homeless adults will finally have the opportunity to enroll in Medicaid. (Cassady, n.d.)
Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness. (PATH) (Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration)PATH is a formula grant program that provides financial

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assistance to states to support services for homeless individuals who have serious mental illness
or serious mental illness and substance abuse. Eligible programs and activities include outreach
services; screening and diagnostic treatment services; habilitation and rehabilitation services;
community mental health services; alcohol or drug treatment services; staff training; case
management services; supportive and supervisory services in residential settings; referrals for
primary health services, job training, educational services, and relevant housing services and a
prescribed set of housing services. (Cassady, et al.)
Services in Supportive Housing. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration)The SSH program helps prevent and reduce chronic homelessness by funding
services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness living with a severe mental
and/or substance use disorder. Grants are awarded competitively for up to five years to
community-based public or nonprofit entities. Services supported under the SSH funding include,
but are not limited to, outreach and engagement, intensive case management, mental health and
substance abuse treatment and assistance in obtaining benefits. (Cassady, et al.)
Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration)GBHI is a competitively awarded grant program that enables
communities to expand and strengthen their treatment services for people experiencing
homelessness. Grants are awarded for up to five years to community-based public or nonprofit
entities and funded programs and services include substance abuse treatment, mental health
services, wrap-around services, immediate entry into treatment, outreach services, screening and
diagnostic services, staff training, case management, primary health services, job training,
educational services and relevant housing services. (Cassady, et al.)
Policies for the homeless has changed considerably throughout the years. The initial
response to homelessness in the 80s was that it was a kind of crisis situation and when the
economy gets better, itll go away. Homelessness was still a very big problem even when the

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economy was healthy. Because homelessness was seen as a relatively unknown issue at that
time, the government began to gather data about the homeless population. One of the first
homeless counts in the United States was in 1984 and at that time it was estimated nationwide that
there was a range of 250,000 to 350,00 homeless people in a single night according to the
Department of Housing and Urban Development. At that time, there were not a lot of services
that existed. Recently, to alleviate the homelessness situation, the Obama administration passed
the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act in 2009, which aims to
have homeless individuals and families retain permanent housing within thirty days. (Chen, n.d.)
In K. Shays Common Stereotypes and Misconceptions about Homeless People, (n.d.) it
talks about how there is a perception of homeless people in our society that is created and held up
by a vast collection of myths and assumptions, most of which are wrong. It also states that
These misconceptions are dangerous and they seriously interfere with attempts to help those in
need. and Some of these negative impressions are so ingrained into our society that even some
people who are trying to help may believe some of them. Many of these incorrect
representations make people who would otherwise want to help become unwilling to help people
they've come to believe do not deserve it. (Shay, n.d.) People believe that homeless individuals
are mental, drug addicted and violent and because of these misconceptions there is a lot of fear
according to J. Frames article called Overcoming Misconceptions About Homelessness (2011)
He goes on to say, Because of this, there are people who would rather not bother to help because
they believe that they may get hurt in the process. and There are some solutions that would
help ease these misconceptions to gain knowledge of what is going on in communities. Frame
goes on to say that becoming involved in communities by assisting at a charity (such as a drop-in
center for the homeless), volunteering at the local library, or even picking up litter in a city park
will help engage more with people and this will positively affect them and our communities.

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When we engage more deeply with people, we're likely to gain new understandings of them.
(Frame, 2011)
The United States is not the only country that has issues of homelessness. Other areas in
our world have homeless issues that are comparable to ours while others have issues that are
much different. For example, homelessness in India with a population of well over 1 billion
people is the second most populous nation in the world. According to UN-HABITAT, India is
home to 63% of all slum dwellers in South Asia. This amounts to 170 million people, 17% of the
worlds slum dwellers. India's per capita income, although rising, rank's it 124th in the world. This
low per capita income is one factor that marks the sharp divide between India's wealthiest and
poorest citizens. Approximately 35 percent of India's 260 million people (a group almost equal to
the entire population of the United States) still earns $1 or less a day and according to the United
Nations, 70 million people earn less than $2 a day. As India continues to grow in economic
stature, there's much debate over the country's ability to tackle poverty and urban homelessness.
A 2001 census reported that 78 million people across India were living without a home, many in
overcrowded urban environments. Reducing homelessness in India would mean to address issues
similar to those in the United States. Poverty, drug addiction, mental illness and natural disaster
are problems that need to be addressed in order to help decrease homelessness. (Homeless Facts,
n.d.) There is also Nigeria, who has recently been identified as the worlds highest in terms of the
number of people that are homeless. The death of housing finance is the greatest factor that
contributes to the lack of shelter in Nigeria. (Eken, 2012) Aside from the financial crisis on
mortgages, homelessness is also a factor of poor weather and clashes breaking out between
radical Islamist groups and troops from the Nigeria-Niger-Chad Multi-National Joint Task Force.
(Eken, 2012) The government is moving its homeless out of the area so that they can build a new
residential area. This will help the economy to becomes better in the parts where the homeless

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once were. (Eken, 2012) In order to gain housing for the homeless that are moved from these
areas, the Federal Ministry of Lands and Housing has the plan of building mass housing projects
for them. (Eken, 2012) Homelessness poses a large and growing problem in Chinas cities, too.
There are thousands scraping by on what they can beg or earn on the streets. (Chou, 2009) Tens
of thousands of Chinese people wander the streets of China's cities, camping under bridges and
overpasses, or selling trash to buy a bunk bed in shantytown accommodation. (Chou, 2009)
Many are disabled, entitled to scant government aid and forced to busk or beg for a living. (Chou,
1999) Others have been forcibly evicted from their homes to make way for urban redevelopment,
while many are on the run from local officials about whom they have tried to complain. (Chou,
2009) The Chinese Government is making attempts to reduce homelessness by increasing the
income of households. (Chou, 2009) A recent study implies that 300 million people are still poor
in China; some people have not been affected by Chinas economic boom, despite what the
government may have hoped. (Ekene, 2012)
The media and the public often skew the perceptions of the problems that result from being
homeless. In some ways, how society views the homeless population can affect its ability to
understand what causes are at work. In what means the media presents the problems of the
homelessness can have a big affect on how the public looks at the issues and how they go about
attempting to correct the problem. (Lichter, 1989) The media puts an emphasis on people who
are homeless as substance abusers and mentally ill individuals when in fact these are just a portion
of the group. Single mothers with children and people with minimal job skills make-up nearly 50
percent of the homeless population. Veterans also make up a large percentage of homeless people
in America. The media helps to create empathy in the community and by doing this it awakens
the conscious of the public to take action and advocate for the homeless.
According to the media, there are a variety of health concerns in the homeless population.

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Homeless people have a variety of Infectious diseases such as HIV, TB and STDs. There are also
muscle skeletal problems that include foot diseases, arthritis and chronic pain syndromes. Some
of the homeless can also have chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and COPD. Due to
self-neglect, they can also have dental disease and nutritional problems that can escalate other
health issues. (Bourgois, Zevin, 1998) The media has also paid close attention to keeping our
streets clean. By informing others about our homeless population and the effect that it has on
surrounding communities, it brings awareness to individuals and charitable organizations that aid
in helping the homeless to keep communities clean.
The effect of policy development and the influence it has on the issue is gained through
programs developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. These
programs include the Street Outreach program that covers funds for unsheltered people. There
are also organizations that provide for emergency shelter and homelessness prevention through
rapid re-housing. Services for the homeless are non-discriminatory. No matter what gender,
ethnicity or race, sexual orientation, religion or physical and mental abilities, the United States
does not pick and choose who they implement programs to. However, services are distributed
differently for children that are homeless. The National Coalition for the Homeless is diligently
working on better access to education for homeless children. (Holland, 2012)
My personal belief about the cause of homelessness has many factors. First, I think that the
change in the services for those who have mental issues has lead to more people becoming
homeless. Several years ago in Michigan, our mental health facilities closed down and that had a
big affect on the individuals that were patients there. Also, the economic crisis of the 1970s and
in the new millennium has also caused a lot of people to lose their homes. Other reasons, such as
prisoners being released without any help on the outside world and natural disasters also have a
big effect, too. Because there are so many different reasons that people become homeless, it is

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difficult to place the responsibility on one individual factor. If I had to blame someone, it would
fall on our government. I think that if the government focused on public housing and helping
those who can work find jobs the numbers of the homeless would drop.
The treatment of the homeless and how it relates to social work ethics is contributed to the
fair treatment of all people, regardless of their situation. The preamble in the NASW Code of
Ethics states that the primary mission of the social worker profession is to enhance human wellbeing and to help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs
and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed and living in poverty. Social
workers can help to improve the situation by helping the homeless gain access to free meal
programs, transportation, basic needs and other resources. Through establishing partnerships
with faith-based groups and community agencies they can create a network of support. A social
worker can also keep a telephone number handy for a local homeless hotline and when the
weather is bad, they can call with a location of the homeless individual so they can be picked up.
Donating your time and service is also very helpful. Signing up to feed and clothe homeless
individuals is a very rewarding experience. Justgive.org offers 35 different ways to help the
homeless. On a larger scale, advocating for the homeless is something you can do at a macro
level by participating in community organizations.
Being homeless means more than being without shelter or not having an address.
Homelessness means lacking the security and comfort of having a roof over your head and walls
surrounding you. Having a home is a source of comfort that many of us take for granted.
Homeless individuals do not have that luxury. Putting ourselves in their shoes is a good way to
remind ourselves of what we have and we can use that to humble ourselves so that we can
advocate for and volunteer to help the homelessness in our communities.

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Blasi, G. (1992). Gimme Shelter: A Social History of Homelessness in Contemporary America.
Social Service Review. doi:10.1086/603956

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