Linda Osei–Assibey
English 101;Farbman
Spring 2003

In Charles E. King’s “Homelessness in America”, he writes about the population of homeless people in America and the fact that children are part of the growing population of the homeless in America. Also, in “My Anger and Sadness Over Pesticides”, Cesar Chavez writes that pesticides have endangered the lives of farm workers and their families. In addition, in “The Gulf War is Still Being Fought”, Joelle Foshee writes that even though the gulf war has ended, a new war is still being fought and this new war is known as the “Gulf War Syndrome”. These are all injustices in America today. However, homelessness in America is the injustice I have chosen to address because the population of homeless people has grown higher due to insufficient help from the government and the public and also high priced housing.

A homeless person is a person who has no home or permanent place of residence. A lot of people try to help the homeless everyday. But even to these people sometimes nagging questions arise to why they should help the homeless and how they could talk other people into helping the homeless. The Government has tried to help the homeless and is still trying. But whatever the government is doing to help the homeless is not enough. The public has also stereotyped homeless people as if they are dirty and they are mostly looked down on. In order to cut down homelessness, more housing facilities should be built and also training programs set aside for men and women willing to move on with their lives.

A house is a building that serves as a living quarters for one or few families. Without houses, there would be no homes for millions of people in the world. A recent study shows that America will need low income housing of about 7.5m and a lot of low income housing could be lost to landlords renting at prevailing market rates. Consequently, in some years to come, more Americans will become homeless. The rent and mortgages of some houses are outrageous. How can people pay all this money, feed their families and take care of other responsibilities as well? For Americans to own a house or even to be able to rent an apartment, high priced rent or houses should be addressed and the necessary action taken to have moderate prices for all kinds of housing. This will help both the poor and the rich live a better life.

On the whole, homelessness in its most fundamental terms, is “the sum total of our dreams, policies, intensions, errors, omissions, cruelties, kindness, all of it recorded in the flesh”(King 445). Therefore if the government and the general public do not support and provide help for people who need them, then homelessness will forever exist.