The issue of homelessness is always more complicated than it sounds. Coming to school i saw 4 guys with cardboard boxes made into signs pleading for help. I had a few conversations with homeless people on the trolley and there stories are quite fascinating. If they aren't a neglected veteran then they are drug or alcohol addicted victims the thing i noticed most all of them might seem crazy but are highly intelligent have a cousin thats homeless, he let alcohol rule him and ended up on the streets we all tried to help but he chose the streets. One time i was with my friend and i saw him on the bus he didnt recognize me but i felt sick to the stomach at the thought of hed rather be drunk at 2pm on the bus than get help from loved ones. Sometimes this is a choice often time its the only solution but one thing i always wonder where is there family?
Is it the families job to help them or is it the governments? Its hard to ever say if the government should take over and help its argued that it will be giving them crutches not to work and rely on the government to survive. But when is enough enough .
In 1983 a lawsuit between yvonne mcaine and koch was filed. Mcaine was claiming that the city of new york had failed to provide sufficient shelter and creating standards of how the shelters for families should be governed. That was just one of the popular cases of the many others that were to follow. Today i read the quote below and it got me thinking.
"While the number of homeless single adults has fallen a bit, the number of homeless families has risen. There are about 9,000 homeless families, including about 14,000 children, sleeping in city shelters every night this month. City spending on homelessness prevention has risen, to $191.2 million in 2007 from $160.6 million in 2004, and spending on homeless shelters has grown to $603.5 million from $563.4 million, the city’s Independent Budget Office found in a study [pdf] last month." Click here for full article
My question was why are we spending so much money on the upkeep of homlessness when we could simply use the money towards homeless families and grants for college or give them a fully paid house and clothes so that they can get jobs and the kids can go to school and go on to start organization instead of keeping them homeless and spending tax dollars on keeping homeless people homeless. Every state needs to take a step back and really think about this. But then i answered this question in my head and began thinking about the crutches. But have we tried this in history? i think we should just give it a try and see where it goes.
I once heard "well people who cant afford babies just shouldn't have kids" this much is true and i fully agree but why should the kid be put into this situation its not the governments fault that the mother couldn't keep her legs closed or the dad was a sex feigned dummy.
this is really a matter of federalist or anti-federalist should the government step up? or should we make it the job of the kids on the streets to rise above and become motivated for a life they weren't exposed to. This whole thing is a mind boggler and i don't know where i stand. All i know is if millions of dollars are going to be spent on issues that seem to be unresolvable we need to look for another idea for a solution because apparently this one is working.
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